For immediate release: 13 December 2007
Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Ipsos-MORI Hothouse win award for poverty research
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Ipsos MORI Hothouse have won the 2007 MRS Public Policy/Social Research Effectiveness Award for research which explored public attitudes to UK poverty.
The research – Make poverty a story: Understanding and shaping attitudes to 21st century UK poverty – suggests that the term “poverty” is not one people relate to within a UK context and therefore communication about what it really means needs to be more sophisticated. The findings are being used to inform communications initiatives which aim to increase public support for eradicating poverty in the UK.
Anne Harrop, Director of Research at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “This project was undertaken as part of our Public Interest in Poverty Issues programme, which aims to build understanding of attitudes to poverty and to explore the implications of these attitudes for communication and change. This research challenges and redefines the agenda around modern day poverty and the recognition given by this award will help us get these important messages to an even wider audience.”
The judges said of the research: “It stood out from a strong and varied field as both an important programme of work, well executed, and having a significant impact on improving understanding of a major issue.”
The award was presented at a ceremony at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on Monday 10 December.
Notes to Editors:
- The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is one of the largest social policy research and development charities in the UK. It supports a research and development programme that seeks to understand the causes of social difficulties and explore ways of overcoming them.
- Ipsos MORI is the sum total of two successful research companies, Ipsos UK and MORI, which joined together in October 2005 to create the second largest research company in the UK.
- The Market Research Society (MRS) is the world’s largest association serving all those with professional equity in provision or use of market, social and opinion research, and in business intelligence, market analysis, customer insight and consultancy.
Issued by Charlotte Morris, JRF Senior Media Relations Manager: 01904 615 919 / 020 7278 9665
