Qualitative research and the evidence base of policy : insights from studies of teenage mothers in the UK

Graham, Hilary and McDermott, Elizabeth (2006) Qualitative research and the evidence base of policy : insights from studies of teenage mothers in the UK. Journal of Social Policy, 35 (1). pp. 21-37. ISSN 0047-2794

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Abstract

Qualitative research is ambiguously placed as a source of evidence for policy. It provides a way of accessing the experiences and perspectives of those targeted by welfare interventions, yet it is routinely excluded from the evidence reviews undertaken to inform these interventions. The article explores what qualitative research - mapped and synthesised through a systematic review - can contribute to evidence and policy. Taking teenage motherhood as a case study, it juxtaposes the conclusions of quantitative reviews with themes emerging from a systematic review of qualitative studies of teenage mothers' lives. It highlights how teenage motherhood, identified in quantitative reviews and in policy interventions as a route to social exclusion, emerges in these studies as an act of social inclusion. It highlights, too, how social disapproval as well as material hardship weigh on teenage mothers, and the potential role that policies could play in supporting the identities and resilient practices mothers develop in the face of material and social disadvantage.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Journal of Social Policy
Additional Information:
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=JSP The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Journal of Social Policy, 35 (1), pp 21-37 2006, © 2006 Cambridge University Press.
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3321
Subjects:
?? young motherschildbearinglimitationspregnancyidentityagepublic administrationmanagement, monitoring, policy and lawsocial sciences (miscellaneous) ??
ID Code:
66425
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
17 Sep 2013 08:10
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
18 Sep 2024 00:32