Questions from the Ministry of Justice:
Analytical and research methods
Statistical techniques: to better measure effects within our research and the analysis of our data; learning from new methodologies to analyse and interrogate administrative data, particularly missing information, low frequencies and counts, and approaches to data linkage.
Ministry of Justice, 2020
Analytical and research methods
Social research methods, particularly qualitative research and ethnographic methods: to give a richer understanding of the experience of, and interactions with, the justice system; advances in ‘big qual’ methodology; quantitative social research methods such as sequence and cluster analysis.
Ministry of Justice, 2020
Analytical and research methods
Experimentation, implementation, and evaluation: including exploring, developing and testing new ideas or methods using innovative pre-experimental and evaluation approaches and randomised control trials; how to measure the impact and effectiveness of public service interventions in a human-centric manner; advances in pre- and quasi-experimental methods; theory-based evaluation and value-for-money evaluation.
Ministry of Justice, 2020
Analytical and research methods
Data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence: algorithmic decision-support and decision-making, to inform the real-time personalisation of services and interventions; natural language processing, feature extraction and analysis of complex textual data; artificial intelligence transparency, accountability, fairness, and ‘explainability’.
Ministry of Justice, 2020
Analytical and research methods
Simulation, agent-based modelling and hybrid modelling methods: optimisation methods; forecasting techniques; resource modelling, and performance frameworks, to inform and optimise the running and delivery of the MoJ estate and operations, to ensure they run effectively, efficiently, and productively.
Ministry of Justice, 2020
Cross-cutting themes
Relationships and trust: How can we help ensure relationships between individuals in the justice system are mutually effective and built on trust? How can procedural justice, for example, help develop relationships, build trust, and create and sustain outcomes for individuals?
Ministry of Justice, 2020
Cross-cutting themes
Pathways and outcomes: How do individuals within the justice system move through it, interacting with multiple (often disparate) agencies, services, interventions and policies? How we can develop, target, sequence, and measure the outcomes of, interventions and support?
Ministry of Justice, 2020
Cross-cutting themes
Health and wellbeing: How can we ensure the right level of support for those with health conditions, particularly mental health and neurodevelopmental disorders, at all stages in the justice system? How do the wider social determinants of health impact upon justice needs and outcomes?
Ministry of Justice, 2020
Cross-cutting themes
Equality and diversity: How do protected characteristics and socio-demographic differences impact upon interactions with the justice system? How can we better understand and account for population-level differences, experiences and inequalities in our policies, particularly for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) individuals?
Ministry of Justice, 2020
Youth offending and reoffending
How effective are youth justice services at achieving positive, non-justice outcomes that support desistance from offending? How can we better support youth justice services to share information and coordinate their interventions to provide holistic support?
Ministry of Justice, 2020
Youth offending and reoffending
How can we identify children that are at risk of offending at an early stage? How can we prevent the transmission of intergenerational offending to children and young people in families with a history of offending? How can we minimise the criminogenic impact of a child’s contact with the youth justice system?
Ministry of Justice, 2020