Statistics for Sport Scientists

General links to other organisations

The links below are provided in addition to those in the book.

Audit Commission - www.audit-commission.gov.uk – the Audit Commission is an independent body responsible for ensuring that public money is used economically, efficiently and effectively. Audit Scotland - www.audit-scotland.gov.uk – the Wales Audit Office – www.wao.gov.uk – and the Northern Ireland Audit Office - www.niauditoffice.gov.uk - play similar roles.

Links to statistical data

British Social Attitudes Survey - www.data-archive.ac.uk/findingData/bsaTitles.asp - through the UK Data Archive it is possible to access and analyse the annual British Social Attitudes survey datasets. The Data Archive (www.data-archive.ac.uk) also contains a huge range of other data, much of which is available to students at no charge

HM Treasury www.hm-treasury.gov.uk – gives access to a wide range of information including economic data and statistics on public expenditure

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development – www.oecd.org – provides a variety of information enabling comparison across countries

The Office for National Statistics – www.statistics.gov.uk – provides access to a wide range of statistical sources, includingSocial Trends.

Links to devolved administrations in the UK

The links below are provided in addition to those in the book.

Given the increased importance of decision-making in the devolved administrations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and arguably the increasing diversity of approaches to social policy (see Chapter 3), it is well worth being aware of developments in the different constituent elements of the United Kingdom. Not only can this tell us what is going on in relation to particular policies or policy areas (such as NHS prescription charges or tuition fees for higher education), but it can also highlight ‘lesson-learning’, the ways in which decision makers can look at the experience of other jurisdictions for guidance on what approaches might or might not work. Lesson learning, or ‘policy transfer’, has sometimes been depicted as something that occurs across states, but internal policy transfer also takes place, and devolution perhaps increases the possibilities for this.

Northern Ireland Assembly - www.ni-assembly.gov.uk - the web site of the Northern Ireland Assembly, this provides access to information and links on the working of the Assembly

Northern Ireland Executive - www.northernireland.gov.uk - the web site of the Northern Ireland Executive, this provides access to information and links on the government of Northern Ireland, its roles and responsibilities

National Assembly for Wales - www.wales.gov.uk - the web site of the Welsh Assembly Government, this provides access to information and links on the government of Wales, its roles and responsibilities, and to a range of other sources on social policy in Wales

Scottish Government – www.scotland.gov.uk – the web site of the Scottish Government, this provides access to information and links on the government of Scotland, its roles and responsibilities, and to a range of other sources on social policy in Scotland

Scottish Parliament - www.scottish.parliament.uk - the web site of the Scottish Parliament, this provides access to information and links on Scottish Parliament, its roles and responsibilities

Social policy in Eire information and links

The links below are provided in addition to those in the book.

Social policy in Eire (see also Chapter 19 on the European Union)

The development of social policy in Eire has arguably been influenced by the major role played by the Catholic Church following independence in 1922. In the years following independence social policy was heavily influenced by the teaching of the church, with, for example, responsibility for the provision of welfare being seen as largely the responsibility of the family and voluntary (generally church) organisations. In addition, the failure of the labour movement to achieve the type of gains in the new, largely rural, Irish state, further allowed the development of a conservative approach to social welfare.

Therefore, whilst Ireland inherited a variety of welfare policies and practices from the United Kingdom, including the developing level of state welfare in Britain in the early twentieth century, there was significant opposition to the state playing any significant role in social policy. Rather, the Church came to play the principal role in much provision, including education and health care, and in the organisation of charitable assistance for the poor.

Given the centrality of the family and the implications of that for women in much of the teaching of the Church at that time, it is perhaps unsurprising that the new Irish state adopted the traditional model of the male breadwinner and the female carer, and the constitution of 1937 directed women’s role towards ensuring the welfare of the family as carers in the home. In addition, the constitution outlawed divorce and made the sale of contraceptives illegal.

Following the Second World War Ireland did not benefit from the economic boom that existed in the United Kingdom and many other western states during the 1950s and 1960s. Indeed, the Irish economy grew only slowly and wage levels remained low. Over a period of time, in part as a response to this, the involvement of the state in the economy grew and various forms of state intervention developed. During the 1970s inward investment grew and this continued following accession to the European Community in 1973. As the state’s role in the economy grew so too did demands for greater social provision and higher expenditure. The state’s ability to respond to these was aided by the greater liberalism of the Catholic Church in the 1960s and 1970s, with a greater willingness to accept that the state could usefully intervene in the provision of welfare and the pursuit of social justice. The 1970s saw the introduction of comprehensive social insurance schemes, including for retirement pensions, whilst other forms of income maintenance moved away from a pattern of subsistence-level payments to somewhat more generous provision. As a result of the greater state involvement, by the 1980s Ireland was spending a higher proportion of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on welfare than many other Western states, despite the fact that GDP per capita remained relatively low. From the 1980s state welfare in Ireland has been affected by many of the same economic and social developments as in other states, with, for example, concerns over levels of unemployment, over rates of taxation, and the viability of the welfare state.

In common with many other states, recent years have seen governments in Ireland seeking to encourage the role of the voluntary and community sector in social policy, in partnership with public and private sectors.

Where the position of women in society is concerned, until the 1970s social and other policies continued to reinforce their dependent status, with, for example, little employment protection for women, and the use of income tax to mitigate against married women working. However, from the 1970s there have been a series of reforms, whilst Ireland’s membership of the European Union have required that it fulfil the requirements of equal pay and equal treatment in employment. During the 1990s divorce, contraception and abortion also moved higher onto the political agenda and there were a series of campaigns and referendums on these issues, with divorce being legalised in 1997, although abortion remains illegal.

In 2006, Towards 2016 sought to set out a ten year strategic framework for a number of economic and social challenges (see for example, www.taoiseach.gov.ie/index.asp?locID=231&docID=-1).

Links to information on government and social policy in Eire

The Government of Ireland’s web site is www.gov.ie. It provides links to each government department, including the Department of Education and Science (www.education.ie), the Department of Health and Children (www.dohc.ie) and the Department of Social and Family Affairs (www.welfare.ie).

The Irish Social Policy Association -  www.ispa.ie – provides a number of links to other resources.