£4m study of key social issues to help build better public services

Pressing issues such as crime rates, racial segregation, and social inequality are among concerns to be addressed by experts in a £4 million research initiative. Attitudes to Scottish independence in the run up to next year's referendum will also come under scrutiny as part of the initiative, led by the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. Researchers will develop a broad programme of study over the next four years to help policy makers develop more effective policy, improve public services and build a better future for the public in Scotland. The Applied Quantitative Methods Network (AQMeN) Research Centre, based at the University of Edinburgh's School of Law, has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. It will be launched tomorrow (Tuesday 30 April) at the National Museum of Scotland. Professor Gwilym Pryce of the University of Glasgow will examine how and why cities are often segmented by race, religion and social class, and the long term effects of this clustering. Programme Director Professor Susan McVie will lead the research on Crime and Victimisation, which will seek to explain the dramatic drop in crime rates in Scotland over the last 30 years.