The Centre for Public Policy and Management
Applied policy research
| The Centre for Public Policy and ManagementApplied policy research | |
The CPPM has a strong multi-disciplinary team with a wide range of interests and expertise in public sector research. The team includes:
| Members of the team | Specialist skills | Areas of interest |
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Professor Paul Spicker (Director of the CPPM) |
Social policy and administration |
Social exclusion |
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Social planning |
Community planning |
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Political science |
European Union |
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Sociology |
Local government |
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Economics |
Labour markets |
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Management |
Environment |
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Law |
Administrative law |
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Public administration |
Local government |
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Social work |
Social services management |
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Law |
Social work |
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Public policy |
Social indicator research |
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| Professor Matt Qvortrup | Political science | Policy and implementation |
| Margaret Burke | Nursing | Health studies |
| Dr Darren Halpin | Public Policy |
Rural affairs |
The team is further strengthened by the participation of members of the Aberdeen Business School, who offer more skills in law, management and public policy.
The researchers who have been engaged in recent projects include, in alphabetical order:
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Dr Paul Arnell Paul Arnell is a Senior Lecturer in Law specialising in international issues. He is Course Leader for the RGU LLM/MSc course in International Trade, and worked with the CPPM in an Oxfam commissioned project on the effect of international trade on the Scottish economy. |
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Professor Norman Bonney. Norman Bonney is a Research Fellow with the CPPM. Professor Bonney has managed or co-managed numerous major research projects totalling over £350,000 including one for Grampian Regional Council and five for the Economic and Social Research Council. He is experienced in both quantitative and qualitative research methods. In a long professional career he had undertaken studies of social deprivation and social policy in contexts as various as rural Appalachia and inner city Chicago as well as specialising in UK urban policy and practice. He was Convenor of Aberdeen City Council’s Industrial Development Committee 1974 to 1980, and of the Town Planning Committee 1981 - 1985. He has undertaken research into, and published, on the economic and social impact of oil on Aberdeen’s economic and social life; he has also published extensively on local, national and international labour market issues. He is currently researching public involvement in the work of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish local authorities.
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Kirsteen Davidson. Kirsteen Davidson is a Lecturer in Public Policy and Management, working on issues of service delivery and public administration. After qualifying as a solicitor in 1989, Kirsteen worked in legal practice for several years, specialising in the area of family law. She joined the Robert Gordon University in 1995 and has published in the areas of local government, child protection and political participation. Her current research interests are in the area of children's services, and she is part of the CPPM team working on issues on child poverty.
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Dr Darren Halpin is a Reader in Public Policy. Prior to his appointment at RGU, he was a Lecturer in Central Queensland University in Australia, and before that a research the Centre for Social Research, Edith Cowan University (WA) and a visiting Research Fellow at Aberdeen University (Scotland). Dr Halpin has research interests and expertise in interest groups and public participation within public policy processes. He also has significant experience in qualitative data collection and analysis, including experience in interviewing civil servants, service deliverers and stakeholder groups in a policy context. He has completed projects for the Australian Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) and the British Academy (BA).
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Professor Paul Spicker. Paul Spicker, the Director of the CPPM. holds the Grampian Chair of Public Policy at the Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen. He has written widely in the field of social policy, having published ten books, several shorter works and over 50 academic papers. His research has included studies related to benefit delivery systems, the care of old people, psychiatric patients, housing management and local anti-poverty strategy. He has experience of housing and welfare rights work, and has also been a consultant on social welfare in practice, serving a range of agencies at local, national and international levels.
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Linda Strangward. Linda Strangward is a Researcher in the CPPM, and the Centre’s Administrator. She obtained her B.A. Hons in Public Policy and Management at RGU in 1995. Her undergraduate project was on the implications of EU structural funds for the UK. Her work for the CPPM includes work on public engagement, social inclusion, poverty and the needs of homeless people.
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| Dr Peter Strachan. Peter Strachan is a Lecturer in Management. He works on a range of issues in the management of local authorities and the public sector, including Best Value and Quality Management. He has published extensively. His work for the CPPM this year has included homelessness research and work on social inclusion |
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Veronica Strachan. Veronica is Head of Department in Law and in Economics and Public Policy. She is a qualified solicitor and regularly teaches on Continuing Professional Development courses for legal and other practitioners. She has contributed to a general legal textbook on Scots law, and is co-author of a book on Social Work law in Scotland. Her work with the CPPM includes public consultations on charity law and civil partnership registration. |
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| David Gibbons Wood David Gibbons-Wood is an economist and is Director of the Centre for International Labour Market Studies. He has undertaken numerous studies of social exclusion, labour market issues, skills and training for local agencies, including Aberdeen City Council, Scottish Enterprise Grampian, the Scottish Executive and the Scottish University for Industry. |
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Others who have participated in recent CPPM initiatives include:
Peter Cassidy. Peter Cassidy is a Visiting Fellow at the CPPM. Peter was formerly Director of Social Work for Aberdeen City Council, and is a former president of the Association of Directors of Social Work in Scotland. He is CoSLA’s Adviser on Social Work, and has been an adviser to the Health and Community Care Committee of the Scottish Parliament. He is on the Board of the Care Commission.
Dr Sarah Christie. Sarah Christie is a Lecturer in Law, with particular interests in Scottish Criminal Law and practice. She has taught Law in the Robert Gordon University since 1998. She has published work on several aspects of criminal law, including criminal responsibility, incitement and breach of the peace. She writes a column on criminal law for the Scottish Law Gazette.
Margaret Burke is a lecturer in health studies at the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Robert Gordon University. She is a nurse and health visitor by background and worked in the community prior to joining RGU. Her speciality is in public health. Her research expertise is in evaluation of health improvement projects, and the assessment of health/ health promotion needs in primary care utilising quantitative and qualitative methodologies.
