Statement defining the AHRC's interest in the area of Cultural Policy Research
The Arts and Humanities Research Council recognises research into the history, theory and practice of cultural policy as an emergent and nationally significant area within its remit. While acknowledging that cultural policy research may also be pursued within the remit of the Economic and Social Research Council, the AHRC welcomes research in this area which addresses the particular concerns of the arts and humanities research community.
The AHRC identifies cultural policy research as a field in which academic research concerns may inform public debate, policy and practice, particularly, but not exclusively, within the creative and cultural sectors.
In particular, the AHRC seeks to encourage research and research methodologies in the broad area of cultural policy which address questions of human value in creativity and culture, including both the individual and collective experience of creativity and culture.
At the same time, the AHRC recognises a range of approaches to cultural policy research deriving from a number of discipline-based research questions. These may include, for example, historical and comparative approaches, longitudinal studies, or evidence-based studies which synthesise a range of data and methodologies. Impact studies per se and empirical studies of audience behaviour are more properly the province of the ESRC, but may be welcomed if they inform the fundamental questions that fall within the remit of arts and humanities research.