This paper addresses the problem of how to measure the benefits of policy-oriented social science research. It argues that social science research promotes economic efficiency in three different ways—it fosters efficiency in the public sector both directly and through effects on the general...

This paper addresses two questions: The first is "What are the benefits of social science research?"; the second is "How should they be measured?" The response to the first is that, as with research in the physical sciences, the benefits should be identified in terms of changes in economic...

Qualitative and quantitative methods in social science research have long been separate spheres with little overlap. However, recent innovations have highlighted the complementarity of qualitative and quantitative approaches. The Accra Food and Nutrition Security Study was designed to...