Overview
The Policy Research Group has one simple view: appropriate use of evidence in policies will benefit population outcomes.
To demonstrate this, the team works on a series of projects across many domains of interest to psychologists, policymakers, and industry. In each case, they look for the best way to carry out high quality research that retains real-life value. As work is carried out, PRG constantly aims to translate insights into meaningful outputs, engaging with stakeholders and champions throughout. The ultimate goal within PRG is to generate relevant evidence for decision-making, whether informing leaders about complex challenges or simply engaging individuals with research outcomes in a way that speaks to the widest possible audience. In reaching for this goal, the research group hopes to offer improved outcomes for populations, particularly regarding their security, economic stability, and well-being.
The PRG is a small team of researchers and affiliates within the CBR that are focused specifically on behavioural insights in policy, particularly in linking experimental methods to real-world applications. Our primary contribution in CBR is through the GCRF Research for Health in Conflict (R4HC-MENA) project, with a handful of additional projects related to behaviour and decision-making.
People
Dr Kai Ruggeri
Director, Policy Research Group
Dr Kai Ruggeri is Assistant Professor in Health Policy at Columbia University and a Senior Fellow at the University of Cambridge where he founded the Policy Research Group (PRG). He completed his PhD at Queen’s University, Belfast, focusing on statistical methods in social sciences. He is also Director of the Junior Researcher Programme in psychology, plus holds a visiting professorship in economics at the HEC Paris (Qatar). His work is on behavioural and economic policies that consider health and well-being as primary outcomes of interest. He is a Fellow of Psychological and Behavioural Sciences at Corpus Christi College.
Dr Tomas Folke
Research Fellow, Policy Research Group
Dr Tomas Folke recently completed his PhD on the role of subjective confidence in human decision making. He holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of York and an MSc in Social and Developmental Psychology from the University of Cambridge. He is working half time for the international NGO Ground Truth Solutions, to make humanitarian aid interventions more responsive to affected populations. He is interested in how statistical modelling can be used to improve real world outcomes.
Research
Insights for impact report
From 2016 to 2018, in partnership with the Junior Researcher Programme, the Policy Research Group produced an annual report highlighting where psychological research is, or may soon be, making an impact on policy. With over 30 early-career researchers involved in producing each compilation, Insights for Impact presents a selection of recent research alongside PRG tools used for assessing evidence in policy applications. The aim is to engage a wide audience on the potential for applications across diverse populations. Following the publication of the textbook >Behavioral Insights for Public Policy: Concepts and Cases, the last insights report was completed in 2018.
Quality assessment of selected insights
Please note that studies included in this report are not necessarily endorsed by the PRG or any contributors to the work. They are intended for the purposes of generating discussion in the field. PRG recognises some topics may be highly sensitive and in some instances, results highly debated. For this reason, they do not provide prescriptive applications of insights but rather on raising important questions related to their implications. As such, PRG acknowledges future work may show other findings or, indeed, refute extracted results here. In any case, these would still fall in line with the general purpose of the report, which is to illuminate insights for wider debate and consideration for possible applications. PRG makes no direct endorsement of any single study and remain steadfast in the view that the scientific community is currently the ultimate resource for robust evidence compilation prior to application. They invite peers of the academic community as well as policymakers to provide any such comments to that effect via ResearchGate.
More about the report
Access the reports
For the inaugural version of the report from 2016, PRG provides both the full document plus extensive details about the process, underlying references, and additional material for further reading.
Policy Research Group projects
Though the PRG is relatively young, they have and continue to work on a diverse research portfolio. This involves basic scientific study, policy-driven research for government, and corporate partnerships linking evidence to decision-making that influence industries. Whether or not stated explicitly, all work from PRG aims to contribute to evidence-based policy.
Current projects
GCRF Research for Health in Conflict (R4HC-MENA)
Past projects
The impact of the economic crisis on mental health
Population attitudes toward the future of transportation
Population behaviour, choice, and policy
Developing guidelines for treatment policy in rare cancers: Part I | Part II | Part III
Closing the gap in mental health patient safety
Mobile technology and mental health in an ageing population: Part I | Part II
Global Health Access Policy: WHO Report
Employment for single mothers: looking for options
What evidence-driven managers can learn from personality measurement (link to follow)
Policy Research Group publications
Ruggeri, K. (2019) Behavioral insights for public policy: cases and concepts. Routledge
Verra, S., Benzerga, A., Jiao, B. and Ruggeri, K., (2019) “Health promotion at work: a comparison of policy and practice across Europe.” Safety and Health at Work
Kácha, O. and Ruggeri, K. (2018) “Nudging intrinsic motivation in environmental risk and social policy.” Journal of Risk Research
Ruggeri, K., Ivanovic, N., Razum, J., Kácha, O., Menezes, I., Zafari, Z. and Garcia-Garzon, E. (2018) “An evidence-based policy for improving choice in global health access through medical travel.” Health Policy, 122: 1372-1376 m
Huppert, F. and Ruggeri, K. (2018) “15. Policy challenges: well-being as a priority in public mental health.” In: Bhugra, D., Bhui, K., Wong, S. and Gilman, S. (eds.) Oxford textbook of public mental health. Oxford University Press
Ruggeri, K., Kácha, O., Menezes, I., Kos, M., Franklin, M., Parma, L., Langdon, P. and Miles, J. (2018) “In with the new? Generational differences shape population technology adoption patterns in the age of self-driving vehicles.” Journal of Engineering and Technology Management
Schmitz, S., Maguire, Á., Morris, J., Ruggeri, K., Haller, E., Kuhn, I., Leahy, J., Homer, N., Khan, A., Bowden, J., Buchanan, V., O’Dwyer, M., Cook, G. and Walsh, C. (2018) “The use of single armed observational data to closing the gap in otherwise disconnected evidence networks: a network meta-analysis in multiple myeloma.” BMC Medical Research Methodology, 18: 66
Ruggeri, K. (2017) “Psychology and policy.” Frontiers in Psychology, 8(497)
Ruggeri, K., Yoon, H., Kácha, O., van der Linden, S. and Muennig, P. (2017) “Policy and population behavior in the age of Big Data.” Current Opinion in Behavioral Science, 18: 1-6
Farver-Vestergaard, I. and Ruggeri, K. (2017) “Setting national policy agendas in light of the Denmark results for well-being.” JAMA Psychiatry, 74(8)
Ruggeri, K. (2017) “Invited comment on New statistics for old? Measuring the wellbeing of the UK by Paul Allin and David Hand. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A
Garcia-Garzon, E., Zhukovsky, P., Haller, E., Plakolm, S., Fink, D., Petrova, D., Mahalingam, V., Menezes, I.G. and Ruggeri, K. (2016) “Multilevel modeling and policy development: guidelines and applications to medical travel.” Frontiers in Psychology, 7: 752
Maguire, Á, Verra, S.E., Bussmann, S., Meier zu Köcker, C., Giurgi, A.L. and Ruggeri, K. (2016) <“Raising concern about the information provided on medical travel agency websites: a place for policy.” Health Policy and Technology
Anderson, J., Ruggeri, K., Steemers, K. and Huppert, F. (2016) “Lively social space, well-being activity and urban design: findings from a low-cost community-led public space intervention.” Environment and Behavior
Verra, S. E., Kroeze, R. and Ruggeri, K. (2016) “Facilitating a safe and successful medical travel process in the European Union.” Health Policy
Ruggeri, K., Maguire, Á., Andrews, J.L., Martin, E. and Menon, S. (2016) “Are we there yet? Exploring the impact of translating cognitive tests for dementia using mobile technology in an ageing population.” Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 8
Maguire, Á., Schmitz, S., Kuhn, I., Haller, E., Khan, A., Cook, G., O’Dwyer, M., Walsh, C. and Ruggeri, K. (2016) “Updated results of a systematic review of the relative effectiveness of treatments in relapsed / refractory multiple myeloma.” Haematologica, 100(S1)
Hinrichs-Krapels, S., Bussmann, S., Dobyns, C., Kácha, O., Ratzmann, N., Thorvaldsen, J.H. and Ruggeri, K. (2016) “Key considerations for an economic and legal framework facilitating medical travel.” Frontiers in Public Health, 4
Kácha, O., Kovács, B.E., McCarthy, C., Schuurmans, A.A., Dobyns, C., Haller, E., Hinrichs-Krapels, S. and Ruggeri, K. (2016) “An approach to establishing international quality standards for medical travel.” Frontiers in Public Health, 4
Záliš, Z., Maguire, Á., Soforic, K. and Ruggeri, K. (2016) “Global access to healthcare and well-being: a place for science and policy.” Frontiers in Public Health, Public Health Policy, 4(129)
Zhukovsky, P., Ruggeri, K., Garcia-Garzon, E., Plakolm, S., Haller, E., Petrova, D., Mahalingam, V. and Menezes, I. G. (2016) “Global health policy and access to care: investigating patient choice on an international level using social media.” Frontiers in Public Health, 3: 284
Ruggeri, K., Maguire, Á, Schmitz, S., Haller, E., Walsh, C., Bowden, J., Kuhn, I., Khan, A., Cook, G. and O’Dwyer, M. (2015) “Estimating the relative effectiveness of treatments in relapsed / refractory multiple myeloma through a systematic review and network meta-analysis.” Blood, 126(23)
Ruggeri, K., Zalis, L., Meurice, C., Hilton, I., Ly, T.L., Zupan, Z. and Hinrichs, S. (2015) “Evidence on global medical travel.” Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 93(11)
Ruggeri, K., Andrews, J. L., Menon, S., Martin, E. and Maguire, Á. (2015) “Cognitive testing and mental health policies: translation concerns with mobile technology.” Society for Neuroscience
Cornish, K., Goodman-Deane, J., Ruggeri, K. and Clarkson, P.J. (2015) “Visual accessibility in graphic design: a client–designer communication failure.” Design Studies, 40: 176-195
Ruggeri, K. (2014) “Disseminating health research in sub-Saharan Africa: a global example for academics, journals and funders.” The Lancet Global Health, 2(4): e193-e194
Farrington, C., Aristidou, A. and Ruggeri, K. (2014) “mHealth and global mental health: still waiting for the mH2 wedding?” BMC Globalization and Health, 10(17)
Morrison, C., Walker, G., Ruggeri, K. and Hacker, J. (2014) “An implementation pilot of the MindBalance web-based intervention for depression in three IAPT services.” The Cognitive Behavioural Therapist, 7(e15): 1-22
Ruggeri, K. and Bird, C. (2014) “Single parents and employment in Europe.” European Commission Directorate for Justice: RAND Corporation
Ruggeri, K. and Wollner, P. (2014) “Transatlantic health IT policies: are we missing opportunities for small businesses and health systems?” Telemedicine and e-Health Journal, 20(6): 1-3
Mills, M., Tsang, F., Präg, P, Ruggeri, K., Miani, C. and Hoorens, S. (2014) “Gender equality in the workforce: reconciling work, private and family life in Europe.” European Commission Directorate for Justice: RAND Corporation
Ruggeri, K., Farrington, C. and Brayne, C. (2013) “A global model for effective use and evaluation of e-learning in health.” Telemedicine and e-Health, 19(4): 1-10
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