MSc / MPhil in Evidence Based Social Intervention (EBSI)

EBSI Facebook - getting/keeping in touch with past and present students

Course Director: Professor Paul Montgomery

Admissions tutor: Professor Frances Gardner

Course Administrator: Bryony Groves 

Graduate Assistant: Gemma Roche

Why study Evidence Based Social Intervention?

In all societies, workers from a range of disciplines and backgrounds intervene to ameliorate social problems. These problems are in areas as diverse as mental health, child protection and support for parents, refugees, care for increasing numbers of vulnerable elders, substance misusers, delinquent young people or those affected by HIV and AIDS. While social problems continue to increase, the resources to combat them are limited by fiscal and political pressures. The practical imperative of ensuring effective use of finite resources, together with an ethical imperative to demonstrate that intervention is doing more good than harm, require that practice be based on sound evidence.

Worldwide there are many training programmes leading to qualification for professional practice, but few have the time or space to require students to examine thoroughly the effectiveness of the social interventions for which they are being trained. “Evidence Based Practice" has become an axiom for governments and service providers, but it often seems that the evidence is thin or the research on which it is based is flawed.

The MSc in Evidence-Based Social Intervention teaches how interventions may be assessed and evaluated, and how critical appraisal can test the claims of “evidence based practice". It tackles the difficult issues involved in transforming research findings into useable interventions for practice, and facilitating practitioner access to the information about evidence which they need to make their decisions.

The debate on evidence-based practice is often polarized – for or against. In addition to teaching rigorous research and appraisal skills, the EBSI course invites a thorough examination of what is meant by the term, and what are the strengths and limitations of this approach.

Why study Evidence Based Social Intervention in Oxford?

Across a number of disciplines, interest in evidence-based intervention has been growing, and the UK has been at the forefront of this development. Oxford University has developed successful centres for Evidence-Based Medicine and for Evidence-Based Mental Health. The Oxford-based international Cochrane Collaboration has been a pivotal force inspiring the US/UK Campbell Collaboration on evidence-based policy and practice in fields of education and social intervention. Supported by those developments, Oxford University has now developed as a leading centre for research and teaching in Evidence Based Social Intervention, with the founding of the Centre for Evidence-Based Intervention (CEBI), which is closely linked to our teaching.

Alongside these developments is a growing realisation that models of practice may not easily translate from one setting, or from one society, to another. There is a particular need for those responsible for initiating and implementing effective social prevention and intervention projects in both the developed and developing world to acquire skills in analysing social problems in the contexts in which they occur; to acquire knowledge of evidence-based solutions for the social difficulties they encounter and to develop the skills of setting up and evaluating their own projects.

We offer research-led teaching by intervention specialists. Course tutors are engaged in research projects in key areas of social intervention, including mental health, sleep problems, parenting skills, family support, prevention of antisocial behaviour, community level interventions, brief and self help interventions, HIV prevention and AIDS affected children.

The Department of Social Policy and Intervention at Oxford has a long tradition of welcoming students from overseas along with students from the United Kingdom.

Who are the Evidence Based Social Intervention courses for?

The MSc in Evidence Based Social Intervention is a 12 month course designed to provide high quality graduate training. The degree is appropriate for both career entry and career development, and as a basis for progressing to doctoral work. The course is recognised by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as an approved Masters and Doctoral training.

The course is for two groups:

• Graduates wishing to develop academic research and skills for use in practice and policy settings. Experienced practitioners and managers in the field (e.g. social intervention and social care, psychology, health care, education, law, mental health) wanting to become more skilled in the use of high quality research methods to inform decisions about practice, policy and funding. The course is not designed as an entry qualification for social work practice.

What do Evidence Based Social Intervention students have to do?

The course emphasises research methods for evaluating interventions, as well as advanced study of evidence-based practice, with, for example, children and families, peoples with mental health problems, refugees, drug users, HIV and young offenders. The course has an interdisciplinary and international prospective.

There are two compulsory core courses, a course following one from a number of options, and 10,000 word thesis.

The Research Methods course prepares students to be critical consumers of research, and to design and implement their own research projects. It covers key research designs as well as quantitative and qualitative techniques for measuring process and outcome. There is a particular emphasis on appraisal and design of randomised controlled trials, and systematic reviews, and their application to social interventions. There is a specialist systematic reviewing course in term two, which helps students to develop their own review, as part of their degree.

The Evidence Based Intervention course covers theories underlying intervention (e.g. cognitive behavioural, ecological); ethical issues; major applications of evidence based approaches; and challenges in applying and disseminating research into practice and policy.

In the Intervention in Practice course, students take one specialist course from a list of options focusing on the application of evidence-based intervention with specific client groups, including Children and Families; Prevention of HIV and AIDS; Community Analysis and Intervention; plus options offered by the Comparative Social Policy course. Teaching in some options may not be available every year.

Students will write a thesis of up to 10,000 words (on a topic agreed with their supervisor).

Syllabus 2011 - 2012.

What else do Evidence Based Social Intervention students have the opportunity to do?

The Department and the University have excellent IT and Library facilities. Language training is also available. Full lecture lists for all disciplines are made available at the beginning of each term and you may attend any of these. In addition to the taught programmes, the Department runs lunch-time research seminars, specialist research seminars in social policy, a visiting speaker series run by our Centre for Evidence Based Intervention, and by our Centre for AIDS Interdisciplinary Research (CAIRO). There is a strong tradition of occasional lectures by eminent visiting academics.

In the wider University, other departments such as Sociology, Psychology, Psychiatry and Public Health, run a number of specialist research seminars that may be of interest to you. During every academic year Oxford also offers lectures from a wide variety of visiting academics and public figures.

What does the Evidence Based Social Intervention course lead to?

Students who graduate from our courses in Evidence Based Social Intervention have a solid basis for further independent research or for policy and intervention-related work in, for example, central or local government, NGO's or 'not for profit' organisations, international agencies or high-level journalism. A substantial number of our students go on to doctoral work in Oxford or elsewhere, many winning prestigious scholarships. Others are working in overseas countries reflecting the international nature and interests of our student body.

Students from previous years have gone on to posts including:

• Systematic Reviewer at the National Collaborating Center for Mental Health
• The Campbell Collaboration, Crime and Justice Group at the University of Pennsylvania, USA
• The Evidence-Based Policy and Practice Unit at the Institute of Education, University of London (3 students)
• Royal College of Psychiatrists, Research Department
• Policy Analyst for Child Protective Services and Department of Mental Health at Governor Romney's Office, Boston
• UK Home Office, Asylum & Immigration Research Department
• NGO work in USA, Lebanon and the UK
• Governmental posts in China, the USA and the UK
• University Lecturer in Social Work in Aberdeen
• Doctorates in Oxford, London, USA, New Zealand and Glasgow (many students in each year)
• Law School in USA
• Social work posts in France and the UK

The MPhil in Evidence Based Social Intervention

This is an extended version of the MSc course, over two academic years. Students take the same two compulsory papers as they do for the MSc. They take two optional papers (from the same list) and write a longer thesis, of up to 30,000 words.

There is flexibility between the MSc and MPhil courses. Students can apply to move from the shorter to the longer course, or vice versa. This is subject to approval from the Graduate Studies Committee. Many students who successfully complete the MPhil then proceed straight to the DPhil (Oxford PhD), as work for the MPhil thesis can be incorporated into the doctoral research.

Course Tutors

Professor Paul Montgomery, Professor of Psychosocial Intervention, Course Director & co-Director of CEBI

Professor Frances Gardner, Professor of Child and Family Psychology, Admissions tutor & co-Director of CEBI

Dr Lucie Cluver, University Lecturer in Evidence Based Social Intervention, Director of CAIRO

Professor Chris Bonell, Professor of Evidence Based Social Intervention

Links to our research centres and projects: 

Centre for Evidence Based Intervention (CEBI)

http://www.spsw.ox.ac.uk/research/groups/cebi.html

Centre for AIDS Interdisciplinary Research (CAIRO) 

http://www.cairo.ox.ac.uk/

‘Young carers’ project

http://youngcarers.netau.net/

Admissions Criteria

Evidence of a high level of academic capability from first degree / masters and a strong motivation towards social intervention. A background in Social Science, Psychology or other numerate subject will be an advantage, but we will consider applicants with other degrees.

Average numbers admitted per year: 20–25