There has been an increasing focus in the UK on the support provided to the Armed Forces community, with the publication of the Armed Forces Covenant (2011), the Strategy for our Veterans (2018) and the first ever Office for Veterans’ Affairs (2019). There is also an important body of research – including longitudinal research – focusing on transitions from military to civilian life, much of which is quantitative. At the same time, the UK has witnessed a period of unprecedented welfare reform. However, research focused on veterans’ interactions with the social security system has been largely absent. This article draws on the authors’ experiences of undertaking qualitative longitudinal research (QLR) to address this knowledge gap. We reflect on how QLR was essential in engaging policy makers enabling the research to bridge the two parallel policy worlds of veterans’ support and welfare reform, leading to significant policy and practice impact.

中文翻译：

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退伍军人与福利改革：通过定性纵向研究连接两个政策世界

随着《武装部队公约》（2011 年）、《退伍军人战略》（2018 年）和首个退伍军人事务办公室（2019 年）的出版，英国越来越重视对武装部队社区的支持）。还有一个重要的研究机构——包括纵向研究——专注于从军事生活到平民生活的转变，其中大部分是定量的。与此同时，英国经历了前所未有的福利改革时期。然而，关于退伍军人与社会保障体系互动的研究基本上缺乏。本文借鉴作者进行定性纵向研究 (QLR) 的经验来解决这一知识差距。