This article aims to analyse the presence of and relationship between the most relevant comparative social research thorough international surveys and public policies reflected in the different official bulletins or gazettes of the countries of southern Europe, specifically Spain, Portugal and Italy. Following a consideration of the process of globalisation of research through surveys, four surveys were selected (Eurobarometer, World Values Survey, International Social Survey Programme, European Social Survey). The complex relationships between public opinion and public policy were also addressed. Finally, it is concluded that the most prominent international surveys have little or no presence in public policies in the countries analysed.

Minimum income protection is gaining new significance in European social policy. In an effort to promote social inclusion, the European Parliament has called on the European Commission and EU Member States to guarantee the minimum right to social safety nets. The Commission has been considering, in the context of the Europe 2020 strategy, the possibility of setting minimum standards for social protection. It is timely then to survey the debates surrounding minimum income standards for Europe and some of the different technologies available for setting reference budgets. A European needs-based (minimum) social protection floor should help guard against poverty and exclusion, but there can be no ‘one size fits all’ in Europe. For it is equally clear that higher social standards of protection may be required by citizens in more affluent parts of Europe. How can such distinctions be made, and what are the challenges arising from doing so?

Social research is a critical foundation for programs that seek to engage communities in change and in the development of more sustainable societies. Without appropriate research, programs aimed at change are likely to be based on implicit or assumed problem identification and/or inferred community needs and wishes. If we are to achieve community participation in activities that lead to real change, research to find out about those communities is the first step. Over the past ten years the NSW Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) has developed a considerable body of social research, conducted with both the general community and specific community segments, to underpin its environmental education programs. This paper includes a review of some models for integrating social research into education programs, and examines the extent to which social research has impacted on both the environmental education programs and the organisational culture of the DEC. From this are drawn learnings from the perspective of a major State environmental agency, about the integration of social research into any program or organisation seeking to achieve social change towards sustainability. As well as program specific benefits, the ultimate outcome of this process is to assist in producing an organisational culture which values evidence-based decision-making and develops policies and structures that incorporate a social research dimension into both programs and policy.

Two surveys of caregivers of people with dementia were conducted in the U.K. and Poland. Among 64 U.K. carers, cognition, early diagnosis and general practitioner support were of particular concern to those caring for people with early dementia, while former carers were more concerned with pain, comfort and palliative issues. There was very strong support for better workforce training. In Poland, restoration of health and more time off from caring were the most desired outcomes.

When Charles Booth first published his research on poverty in London in 1886 he became what might have been the first sociological ‘household name’. His findings were widely reported around the world and across newspapers of very different political orientation. As social scientists continue to grapple with the difficulties and rewards of publicity it is worth looking back to this first instance of the political and media uses of social research. In particular, it is worth noting the triangular and reflexive relationship between the researcher, the media, and policy makers.

The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) at the National Institutes of Health opened in 1995 to facilitate the advancement of research on social and behavioral influences on health. The establishment of the OBSSR coincided with the ascendancy of molecular biology, with its emphasis on more reductionistic influences on health. This greater emphasis on genetic aspects of health has the potential to produce a widening chasm between biomedical research and social, behavioral, and psychological research. We discuss the chasm between sociobehavioral and biomedical research during what might be considered the era of molecular biology and propose the concept of levels of analysis as a unifying framework for research in the health sciences, using research on hypertension in African Americans as a representative example. We also argue for the primacy of psychophysiological research in bridging the chasm and furthering a multilevel perspective and summarize some of the activities of the OBSSR that are relevant to this perspective.