About social research

Social Researchers support the development, implementation and evaluation of the Scottish Government's policies.

Social researchers help generate new ideas and open debate, challenge assumptions, beliefs and attitudes, test policy ideas and develop a deeper understanding of issues affecting Scotland.

Their core functions include:

• understanding the factors which motivate and constrain the behaviour and practices of individuals and organisations in society
• reviewing, interpreting and synthesising evidence, and providing research based advice
• robust policy evaluation, identifying what works for whom and why
• estimating the distributional and equalities impacts of policies
• monitoring social trends to identify future challenges and priorities
• working with other analysts to ensure the social and cultural impacts of policies are assessed and integrated into decision-making
• engaging with the academic and wider research community to bring expert knowledge into the policy making process
• advising government on social research methods and research ethics
• commissioning external research projects
• disseminating research findings and encouraging their wider use

Social researchers use a range of methods and tools to deliver their work. This may include the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to augment the specialist skills of human researchers. AI can help researchers with a variety of tasks including:

• transcribing interviews
• guiding thematic analysis of large amounts of text
• creating initial summaries of documents
• supporting statistical analysis code-writing

The Scotland AI Strategy 2026-31 promotes effective AI adoption and skills development. We follow the AI Playbook principles to make sure our adoption of AI is responsible and ethical.

Social researchers champion trustworthy, risk-aware use of AI in government analysis. This ensures that the highest standards of quality are maintained through close human oversight. By using AI to support our expert analysts, we can produce timely, robust evidence to help design and deliver more effective public services.

We only use tools that have passed strict cybersecurity checks. We keep all information shared by research participants secure at all times.

You can read about AI tools used for research purposes in government on the Scottish AI Register.

Social researchers work closely with other analysts in the Government including statisticians, economists and operational researchers, and across all areas of Scottish Government responsibility including Education, Justice, Health and Social Care, Social Security, Environment and Climate Change, Economy, Equality, Transport, Communities and Local Government, and Culture and External Affairs.

The Chief Researcher is head of profession for all social researchers in the Scottish Government, and also leads the Office of the Chief Researcher which provides a strategic, corporate and professional support function.