Important analysis of Norwegian welfare research
In 2011, just over NOK 1.1 billion was spent on Norwegian welfare research, corresponding to five per cent of R&D expenditures in the higher education sector.
These figures come from a recent study commissioned by the Research Council of Norway and carried out by the Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education (NIFU). The report presents the resource investment in and the results of Norwegian welfare research in 2011.
Approximately 55 per cent of this research was carried out by independent research institutes, while 45 per cent took place in universities and university colleges. This means that research institutes have not been as dominant in this area as has previously been thought.
Welfare research funded by the public sector
Close to 90 per cent of research funding comes from the public sector. For 2011, NOK 361 million in funding came from direct commissions from ministries and directorates, while NOK 260 million was allocated via programmes under the Research Council. Employer's and employee's organisations provided NOK 30 million in funding to projects.
Welfare research is among the national research areas given limited priority, but it has shown substantially more real growth in the 2007–2011 period than the average for research activities overall in the institute and higher education sectors.
Too little international collaboration
One criticism directed towards Norwegian welfare research is that it has not been sufficiently internationalised. The study confirms that researcher participation in EU projects, for example, remains low.
Research collaboration with other actors in the area of welfare, both nationally and internationally, is somewhat more widespread in the institute sector than in the higher education sector, according to NIFU. The Nordic countries, the EU and the US/Canada are the primary regions for international cooperation in both sectors.
Research on working life, family and services at the top
Social science is not surprisingly the most dominant branch of study in the field. Measured in terms of expenditure, the largest disciplines were sociology, economics, psychology and political science/organisational theory.
The three largest thematic research areas in 2011 were working life/working environment, family and upbringing and services (in both the public and the private sectors and including service organisation).
NIFU calculations show that 1 600 researchers/academic personnel at universities, university colleges and independent research institutes carry out welfare research. Of these, close to 60 per cent are employed in the universities and university colleges.
Wide-ranging publication
NIFU identified roughly 500 publications addressing topics related to welfare research in 2011. Of these, 60 per cent were produced by universities and university colleges, 37 per cent by independent research institutes and three per cent by health trusts.
Articles published in scientific journals accounted for 68 per cent of the total publications, chapters in anthologies and books comprised 30 per cent and monographs two per cent.
Sociology is the dominant discipline in terms of publication, followed by political science and social medicine. Forty-nine per cent of all publications are linked to the field of sociology. Fifty-seven per cent of the publications were written in English, but the proportion of publications in Norwegian was still high compared with many other subject areas.
Important knowledge base
Eivind Hovden, Director of the Research Council's Department for Welfare and Education, sees the report as an important part of the knowledge base needed to provide constructive input to the government authorities on the further development of welfare research.
"We would like to carry out more studies at regular intervals so that we can follow developments in the field over time," he states.
Provided by The Research Council of Norway
