A university which fails in this respect has no reason for existence. Where narratives are used in conjunction with metrics, a complete picture of impact can be developed, again from a particular perspective but with the evidence available to corroborate the claims made. Without measuring and evaluating their performance, teachers will not be able to determine how much the students have learned. Inform funding. 2010). The Payback Framework has been adopted internationally, largely within the health sector, by organizations such as the Canadian Institute of Health Research, the Dutch Public Health Authority, the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, and the Welfare Bureau in Hong Kong (Bernstein et al. However, it must be remembered that in the case of the UK REF, impact is only considered that is based on research that has taken place within the institution submitting the case study. While the case study is a useful way of showcasing impact, its limitations must be understood if we are to use this for evaluation purposes. This is particularly recognized in the development of new government policy where findings can influence policy debate and policy change, without recognition of the contributing research (Davies et al. Productive interactions, which can perhaps be viewed as instances of knowledge exchange, are widely valued and supported internationally as mechanisms for enabling impact and are often supported financially for example by Canadas Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, which aims to support knowledge exchange (financially) with a view to enabling long-term impact. Evaluative research is a type of research used to evaluate a product or concept, and collect data to help improve your solution. Although some might find the distinction somewhat marginal or even confusing, this differentiation between outputs, outcomes, and impacts is important, and has been highlighted, not only for the impacts derived from university research (Kelly and McNicol 2011) but also for work done in the charitable sector (Ebrahim and Rangan, 2010; Berg and Mnsson 2011; Kelly and McNicoll 2011). While defining the terminology used to understand impact and indicators will enable comparable data to be stored and shared between organizations, we would recommend that any categorization of impacts be flexible such that impacts arising from non-standard routes can be placed. 2009), and differentiating between the various major and minor contributions that lead to impact is a significant challenge. The case study does present evidence from a particular perspective and may need to be adapted for use with different stakeholders. Evaluation is a process which is continuous as well as comprehensive and involves all the tasks of education and not merely tests, measurements, and examination. It is very important to make sure people who have contributed to a paper, are given credit as authors. Reviewing the research literature means finding, reading, and summarizing the published research relevant to your question. While looking forward, we will be able to reduce this problem in the future, identifying, capturing, and storing the evidence in such a way that it can be used in the decades to come is a difficulty that we will need to tackle. What are the reasons behind trying to understand and evaluate research impact? One of these, the RQF, they identified as providing a promising basis for developing an impact approach for the REF using the case study approach. To be considered for inclusion within the REF, impact must be underpinned by research that took place between 1 January 1993 and 31 December 2013, with impact occurring during an assessment window from 1 January 2008 to 31 July 2013. The risk of relying on narratives to assess impact is that they often lack the evidence required to judge whether the research and impact are linked appropriately. An evaluation essay or report is a type of argument that provides evidence to justify a writer's opinions about a subject. Author: HPER Created Date: 3/2/2007 10:12:16 AM . Indicators, evidence, and impact within systems, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 2012, http://www.arc.gov.au/pdf/ERA_Indicator_Principles.pdf, http://www.charitystar.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Return_on_donations_a_white_paper_on_charity_impact_measurement.pdf, http://www.oecd.org/science/innovationinsciencetechnologyandindustry/37450246.pdf, http://www.cahs-acss.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/ROI_FullReport.pdf, http://mice.cerch.kcl.ac.uk/wp-uploads/2011/07/MICE_report_Goldsmiths_final.pdf, http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=409614§ioncode=26, http://www.odi.org.uk/rapid/Events/ESRC/docs/background_paper.pdf, http://www.iscintelligence.com/archivos_subidos/usfacultyburden_5.pdf, http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/tag/claire-donovan/, http://www.atn.edu.au/docs/Research%20Global%20-%20Measuring%20the%20impact%20of%20research.pdf, http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-099.pdf, http://www.esf.org/index.php?eID=tx_ccdamdl_file&p[file]=25668&p[dl]=1&p[pid]=6767&p[site]=European%20Science%20Foundation&p[t]=1351858982&hash=93e987c5832f10aeee3911bac23b4e0f&l=en, http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/2007/RAND_RB9202.pdf, http://www.rand.org/pubs/documented_briefings/2010/RAND_DB578.pdf, http://ukirc.ac.uk/object/report/8025/doc/CIHE_0612ImpactReport_summary.pdf, http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=415340§ioncode=26, http://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/sites/default/files/80096%20NCCPE%20Social%20Value%20Report.pdf, http://www2.lse.ac.uk/government/research/resgroups/LSEPublicPolicy/Docs/LSE_Impact_Handbook_April_2011.pdf, http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/media/uploads/documents/publications/340.pdf, http://www.ref.ac.uk/media/ref/content/pub/researchexcellenceframeworkimpactpilotexercisefindingsoftheexpertpanels/re01_10.pdf, http://www.ref.ac.uk/media/ref/content/pub/assessmentframeworkandguidanceonsubmissions/02_11.pdf, http://www.ref.ac.uk/media/ref/content/pub/assessmentframeworkandguidanceonsubmissions/GOS%20including%20addendum.pdf, http://www.ref.ac.uk/media/ref/content/pub/panelcriteriaandworkingmethods/01_12.pdf, http://www.russellgroup.ac.uk/uploads/REF-consultation-response-FINAL-Dec09.pdf, http://www.siampi.eu/Pages/SIA/12/625.bGFuZz1FTkc.html, http://www.siampi.eu/Content/SIAMPI/SIAMPI_Final%20report.pdf, http://www.thesroinetwork.org/publications/doc_details/241-a-guide-to-social-return-on-investment-2012, http://www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/n/q/ucu_REFstatement_finalsignatures.pdf, http://www.esrc.ac.uk/_images/Case_Study_of_the_Future_of_Work_Programme_Volume_2_tcm8-4563.pdf, Receive exclusive offers and updates from Oxford Academic, Automated collation of evidence is difficult, Allows evidence to be contextualized and a story told, Incorporating perspective can make it difficult to assess critically, Enables assessment in the absence of quantitative data, Preserves distinctive account or disciplinary perspective, Rewards those who can write well, and/or afford to pay for external input. More details on SROI can be found in A guide to Social Return on Investment produced by The SROI Network (2012). The term comes from the French word 'valuer', meaning "to find the value of". Every piece of research results in a unique tapestry of impact and despite the MICE taxonomy having more than 100 indicators, it was found that these did not suffice. The advantages and disadvantages of the case study approach. 2010; Hanney and Gonzlez-Block 2011) and can be thought of in two parts: a model that allows the research and subsequent dissemination process to be broken into specific components within which the benefits of research can be studied, and second, a multi-dimensional classification scheme into which the various outputs, outcomes, and impacts can be placed (Hanney and Gonzalez Block 2011). While valuing and supporting knowledge exchange is important, SIAMPI perhaps takes this a step further in enabling these exchange events to be captured and analysed. Evaluate means to assess the value of something. Dennis Atsu Dake. Impact is not static, it will develop and change over time, and this development may be an increase or decrease in the current degree of impact. In the UK, evidence and research impacts will be assessed for the REF within research disciplines. 8. To enable research organizations including HEIs to monitor and manage their performance and understand and disseminate the contribution that they are making to local, national, and international communities. , . Published by Oxford University Press. Attempts have been made to categorize impact evidence and data, for example, the aim of the MICE Project was to develop a set of impact indicators to enable impact to be fed into a based system. This report, prepared by one of the evaluation team members (Richard Flaman), presents a non-exhaustive review definitions of primarily decentralization, and to a lesser extent decentralization as linked to local governance. Metrics in themselves cannot convey the full impact; however, they are often viewed as powerful and unequivocal forms of evidence. To achieve compatible systems, a shared language is required. 2009). What are the challenges associated with understanding and evaluating research impact? In development of the RQF, The Allen Consulting Group (2005) highlighted that defining a time lag between research and impact was difficult. Time, attribution, impact. The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of 3D rendering of the mandibular condylar region obtained from different semi-automatic segmentation methodology. In education, the term assessment refers to the wide variety of methods or tools that educators use to evaluate, measure, and document the academic readiness, learning progress, skill acquisition, or educational needs of students. The Payback Framework enables health and medical research and impact to be linked and the process by which impact occurs to be traced. In the UK, evaluation of academic and broader socio-economic impact takes place separately. 3. To adequately capture interactions taking place between researchers, institutions, and stakeholders, the introduction of tools to enable this would be very valuable. Evaluation is a procedure that reviews a program critically. HEIs overview. The transition to routine capture of impact data not only requires the development of tools and systems to help with implementation but also a cultural change to develop practices, currently undertaken by a few to be incorporated as standard behaviour among researchers and universities. This work was supported by Jisc [DIINN10]. They risk being monetized or converted into a lowest common denominator in an attempt to compare the cost of a new theatre against that of a hospital. This is recognized as being particularly problematic within the social sciences where informing policy is a likely impact of research. 0000004731 00000 n It can be seen from the panel guidance produced by HEFCE to illustrate impacts and evidence that it is expected that impact and evidence will vary according to discipline (REF2014 2012). By asking academics to consider the impact of the research they undertake and by reviewing and funding them accordingly, the result may be to compromise research by steering it away from the imaginative and creative quest for knowledge. To understand the socio-economic value of research and subsequently inform funding decisions. Capturing data, interactions, and indicators as they emerge increases the chance of capturing all relevant information and tools to enable researchers to capture much of this would be valuable. % What indicators, evidence, and impacts need to be captured within developing systems. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide, This PDF is available to Subscribers Only. Citations (outside of academia) and documentation can be used as evidence to demonstrate the use research findings in developing new ideas and products for example. Using the above definition of evaluation, program evaluation approaches were classified into four categories. The difficulty then is how to determine what the contribution has been in the absence of adequate evidence and how we ensure that research that results in impacts that cannot be evidenced is valued and supported. These sometimes dissim- ilar views are due to the varied training and background of the writers in terms of their profession, concerned with different aspects of the education process. SROI aims to provide a valuation of the broader social, environmental, and economic impacts, providing a metric that can be used for demonstration of worth. Case studies are ideal for showcasing impact, but should they be used to critically evaluate impact? As Donovan (2011) comments, Impact is a strong weapon for making an evidence based case to governments for enhanced research support. 0000342958 00000 n In putting together evidence for the REF, impact can be attributed to a specific piece of research if it made a distinctive contribution (REF2014 2011a). Other approaches to impact evaluation such as contribution analysis, process tracing, qualitative comparative analysis, and theory-based evaluation designs (e.g., Stern, Stame, Mayne, Forss, & Befani, 2012) do not necessarily employ explicit counterfactual logic for causal inference and do not introduce observation-based definitions. Here is a sampling of the definitions you will see: Mirriam-Webster Dictionary Definition of Assessment: The action or an instance of assessing, appraisal . Findings from a Research Impact Pilot, Institutional Strategies for Capturing Socio-Economic Impact of Research, Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, Introducing Productive Interactions in Social Impact Assessment, Measuring the Impact of Publicly Funded Research, Department of Education, Science and Training, Statement on the Research Excellence Framework Proposals, Handbook on the Theory and Practice of Program Evaluation, Policy and Practice Impacts of Research Funded by the Economic Social Research Council. (2007:11-12), describes and explains the different types of value claim. 2007; Grant et al. Clearly the impact of thalidomide would have been viewed very differently in the 1950s compared with the 1960s or today. 0000008591 00000 n This petition was signed by 17,570 academics (52,409 academics were returned to the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise), including Nobel laureates and Fellows of the Royal Society (University and College Union 2011). Figure 2 demonstrates the information that systems will need to capture and link. 2009; Russell Group 2009). Measurement assessment and evaluation helps the teachers to determine the learning progress of the students. Understand. 2008), developed during the mid-1990s by Buxton and Hanney, working at Brunel University. Cb)5. This transdisciplinary way of thinking about evaluation provides a constant source of innovative ideas for improving how we evaluate.
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