Comparative Analysis of Social Policy Studies

Abstract

While social policy refers to measures taken by society to improve and provide services to meet health and welfare needs, social policy studies are concerned with aspects of public policy, market transactions, personal consumption and interpersonal relationships that contribute to the well-being or wealth of individuals and/or groups. There has been an increase in the number of studies in the field of social policy. The main purpose of this study is to show how the research papers published in this field have undergone an evolutionary change in terms of emphasis. With 4,697 articles from seven different journals over 50 years, the most influential authors in the field, the impact of journals, the most collaborating countries, the evolutionary process of social policy studies in three different periods and the differences in transformations in this process are revealed. The number of studies making a general evaluation in the field of social policy is limited. The originality of the study shows how the studies in the journals, which are seen as a period of approximately 50 years, have transformed in this process. This study is expected to be a road map for researchers on what areas they will focus on according to the social policy transformation.