Trust in government: building an evidence base for Scotland

Scottish Government has access to a range of data sources that provide direct and indirect evidence on levels of trust in government and potential contributing factors. This internship will focus on analysis that draws these together to build up a picture of levels of trust in government – and drivers of this – across different areas, demographics and protected characteristics in Scotland. We are interested in evidence from both quantitative and qualitative data sources, and there may be opportunity to carry out new qualitative work. It is intended that this project will result in a publishable report that provides a literature review of existing evidence on trust and sets out new analysis resulting from the project. Evidence based recommendations for improving Scotland’s evidence base on trust in government will also be welcomed, along with a presentation to relevant Scottish Government staff and stakeholders.

Reactive project in support of Drugs Policy and the National Mission on Drugs

SGSSS internships present invaluable opportunities for analytical outputs to be produced that are reactive and supportive to rapidly changing policy needs. As such, the outputs of these internships are likely to be of great relevance and value to the work of policy colleagues and present opportunity to have real impact on decision making. With this in mind, we will develop the specific focus of this project closer to when the internship is due to start. We will also try to offer a choice of the project that they undertake and ensure the project is shaped around the skills of the candidate. Previous research projects have included evidence/data reviews, surveys, mapping exercises and interviewing.

SPS Corporate Plan 2023-28: Prisoner Complaints: data and usage

The overall focus will be on analysis to consolidate the evidence base to improve the usage of complaints data. Specifically, the project will examine how complaints management and complaints data use look across the prison estate, including how complaints are handled by officers, how they are categorised and analysed and how complaints data informs service improvements and what best practice looks like in complaints management for prison services, including alignment/compliance with SPSO guidelines.

Data with Impact – A collaborative model for developing data driven policy solutions

The project will be based with the ADR Scotland Engagement and Impact Team in the Office of the Chief Statistician. ADR Scotland is a multi million ESRC funded initiative, with the next ADR-UK investment period running from 2026-2031. The project is intended to support preparation for the rebid by setting in place a model approach to working with our partners to develop the Strategic Research Themes as an essential part of our future operations. 

How can evidence help governments be better at preventing negative outcomes for citizens?

The Central Analysis Division is working with the Strategy Division on a programme of work on prevention in Scotland.

The project aims to build the evidence base to support the Scottish Government as it looks to enhance approaches around prevention. In this context, prevention is focussed on how public interventions can tackle the underlying drivers of negative outcomes to prevent them from happening, or to reduce their severity. In doing so, it can play a significant role in reducing future pressures on public services.