Evidence‐based policy: where is our theory of evidence?
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.5042/jcs.2010.0017 |
| Date | 29 January 2010 |
| Pages | 6-14 |
| Published date | 29 January 2010 |
| Author | Nancy Cartwright,Andrew Goldfinch,Jeremy Howick |
| Subject Matter | Education,Health & social care,Sociology |
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10.5042/jcs.2010.0017
Abstract
This article critically analyses the concept of evidence in evidence-based policy, arguing
that there is a key problem: there is no existing practicable theory of evidence, one which is
philosophically-grounded and yet applicable for evidence-based policy. The article critically
considers both philosophical accounts of evidence and practical treatments of evidence
in evidence-based policy. It argues that both fail in different ways to provide a theory of
evidence that is adequate for evidence-based policy. The article contributes to the debate
about how evidence can and should be used to reduce contingency in science and in policy
based on science.
Key words
evidence-based policy; philosophy of science; levels of evidence; children’s services
we now hear of evidence-based housing policy,
transport policy, education and criminal justice.
Since the election of the Labour Government
in 1997, the UK has been firmly committed to
evidence-based policy as a way of developing social
programmes. The UK Government signalled its
commitment to evidence-based policy in the 1999
White Paper Modernising Government, which
The rise of evidence-based
policy
In both the UK and the US there is an increasing
drive to use evidence to inform, develop and refine
policy and practice. This push to improve how
research and analysis informs policy and practice is
increasingly being felt in a wide range of areas: in
addition to evidence-based health and social care,
Evidence-based policy:
where is our theory of
evidence?*
Nancy Cartwright
London School of Economics, UK, and University of California, San Diego, US
Andrew Goldfinch
London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
Jeremy Howick
University College London, and Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, Oxford, UK
*Originally published under the same title as Technical Report 07/07 (ISSN 1750-7952 Print, ISSN 1750-7960 Online) by the Contingency And Dissent
in Science Project, Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science, The London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. The editors and
publishers of the Journal of Children’s Services gratefully acknowledge the author’s permission to reproduce this version of the original paper, which has
been updated and edited to fit the Journal’s style guidelines.
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