Research
The Family Support Agency funds research on family issues related to its direct functions. The Minister for Social & Family Affairs may also request the Agency to undertake or commission research.
Prior to the establishment of the Agency in 2003, Family Research was funded by the Department of Social & Family Affairs. Since the establishment of the Agency’s research programme in 2004, it has funded research through:
- the direct commissioning of research
- the provision of research grant aid
- sponsorship of a Masters/PhD sponsorship scheme
Commissioned Research
The Agency commissions research on issues of direct relevance to its own activities.
Two studies have been commissioned:
- An assessment of the contribution of the Family Support Agency’s Family Mediation Service
- The development of a family research strategy including a strategy for the Agency's research function. This project also involved the development of a database of all family relevant research in the last 10 years. Click to visit the Family Research Database.
Grant-Aided Research
The Agency advertises the availability of research grants under its annual Call for Research. Funding has been provided to four projects:
- One Family (principal investigator), a project titled ‘Family and Child contact centres in Ireland: What is the need and how best can this need be met?’
- ESRI (principal investigator), a project titled ‘Family Figures: Trends in family dynamics and family types in Ireland, 1986-2006’. Published in February 2010. For more information click the report's title above.
- Dr. Margret Fine-Davis, Trinity College Dublin (principal investigator), a project titled ‘Changing Gender Role Attitudes and Behaviour: Implications for Family Formation in Ireland’
- Dr Virpi Timonen, Trinity College Dublin (principal investigator), a project titled: ‘The Role of Grandparents in Divorced and Separated Families in Ireland’. Published in November 2009. For more information click the report's title above.
Masters/ PhD sponsorship scheme
Established in 2008, the Agency is sponsoring a PhD student based in Trinity College Dublin to pursue her Doctorate. The project title is ‘Immigration, Identity & Children’s Community Relations’.
