About GSR

The Government Social Research Service (GSR) provides evidence to understand, develop, implement, monitor and evaluate government policies and services.  It has members in all the main government departments as well as the devolved administrations and other government bodies. It is one of five government analytical services providing evidence for policy.

The purpose of GSR is to:

  • provide government with objective, reliable, relevant and timely social research
  • support the development, implementation, review and evaluation of policy and delivery
  • ensure policy debate is informed by the best research evidence and thinking from the social sciences.

GSR is about ensuring that government and frontline decisions are built on an understanding of, and engagement with, the people and organisations affected by that decision as well as an understanding of the wider social consequences.

  • It represents the social sciences that specialise in behaviour change
  • It specialises in the evaluation of policies and interventions
  • It provides in-depth data and objective analysis on what people and organisations think, how they behave and why they may not be responding to initiatives as planned.

GSR members come from a range of social science backgrounds including psychology, social policy, geography, sociology, political science, criminology and social statistics. GSR members are recruited through rigorous assessment procedures ensuring high quality social scientists are employed as government social researchers.

GSR members and products are expected to adhere to the GSR Code, an   addendum to the Civil Service Code, full details of which are on this site in a dedicated section called GSR Code.

GSR works closely with the other government analytical profession – economics, statistics, operational research, and science and engineering – through formal and informal networks.