ABSTRACT
The conduct of policy-relevant research can cause ripples which spread beyond the project itself In this chapter the author describes the reactions of an agency not directly involved in the commissioning or conduct of the research but for which the findings would inevitably have considerable significance. The interest that this agency subsequently took in the research and the effect of this upon the project are discussed. The author suggests that the context of social research is an area of behaviour which social scientists have under-emphasized as a proper topic for study. In this case, the political context of the research contributed substantially to the content of the final report in ways that could not have been predicted. The author suggests that researchers have an ethical responsibility both to conduct their studies scientifically and to study the research context. The question of whether such study could make it possible to avoid conflict or to take account of and plan for the Hawthorne effect (the effect of being studied) as an agent of social change is raised.
