Scottish Government Social Research Five Year Plan 2026-31 Summary Edition

Goal 5: Social research will embrace multidisciplinarity

The challenges government faces do not fit neatly within one discipline. Public health, poverty, climate transition, care, transport, justice and economic change all require insights from different disciplines, and the best of evaluation, behavioural science, data-informed inquiry and other related approaches. Our profession will therefore be open, outward-looking and less constrained by narrow disciplinary boundaries.

This goal is not only about collaboration. It is also about identity and belonging. Over the next five years, we will become a stronger professional home for people whose expertise sits alongside, between or across established traditions, including specialists in evaluation, behavioural science and data-related research. We want people with these backgrounds to see a clear place for themselves in the profession and a clear route to contribute, grow and lead.

That means valuing a broad mix of skills and ways of thinking. Some colleagues bring deep strengths in theory-based evaluation. Others understand behaviour change, experimentation or applied data methods. Others move confidently across mixed methods, combining qualitative insights with quantitative analysis. These strengths can help government answer difficult questions more effectively: what works, for whom, in what circumstances, why and how to improve delivery.

By broadening the profession in this way, we will strengthen both our impact and our resilience. We will be better able to respond to complex policy problems, support more innovative approaches and make fuller use of the talent already working across government. We will continue to work closely with other analytical professions and evidence communities, but we will also create a clearer and more inclusive professional base within social research itself for adjacent specialisms to thrive.

In practice this means building a profession that is confident in its research foundations while flexible enough to welcome complementary expertise. It means creating clearer development routes, encouraging cross-fertilisation of methods and making sure Scotland benefits from a wider and more modern research toolkit.

What we will do

• Create clearer routes into the profession for people with relevant backgrounds in evaluation, behavioural science, data-related research and other complementary fields, so they can see social research as a credible professional home.
• Support researchers to develop specialist strengths within the profession, including in evaluation, behavioural science and data-enabled approaches, where these improve the quality and usefulness of our work and support choice for researchers to develop specialisms.
• Broaden how we define and recognise professional contribution, so that a wider range of methods, skills and disciplinary backgrounds are valued within social research.
• Build stronger connections across the profession so that colleagues working in related specialisms can learn from one another, share practice and contribute to a more joined-up research community.
• Continue to strengthen capability in behavioural science and evaluation through networks, training, peer learning and practical opportunities to apply these approaches in policy work.
• Encourage research that combines social research with complementary approaches, including data-enabled, experimental and theory-based methods, to answer complex policy questions more effectively.
• Work closely with other analytical and scientific professions while also making sure the social research profession remains an open and welcoming base for people whose expertise spans traditional boundaries.