Dartington Social Research Unit was founded in 1963 by Royston Lambert in King’s College Cambridge, moving to Dartington in 1968. It conducts scientific research about child development in the context of children’s services, with a view to informing needs-led, evidence-based interventions for children in need.

The Unit’s primary objective is to contribute to demonstrably improved outcomes for children in need. Specifically its aims are:

• to conduct high quality scientific research that is theoretically and methodologically innovative
• to make research results available to those implementing policy
  
• to disseminate findings in a lively and interesting way
  
• to encourage others to replicate its studies and to help practitioners and managers in children’s services to do their own research

The Unit is part of the Warren House Group at Dartington, a set of activities concerned with research and development in children’s services. In addition to the Unit, the group comprises Dartington-i (a service development organisation operating in England, Spain and the US), DeMo (a communication design studio), Centre for Social Policy (for senior or retired researchers and policy-makers), and Warren House Press (a publications enterprise).

The Unit also has strong links with a network of research centres around the world. Its PhD programme operates through the Universities of Bath and Exeter.