1 / 17

Impact of Social Science Research on Policy

Impact of Social Science Research on Policy. CEPR Research Training Networks in Social Sciences 11 th October 2007 Ronni Littlewood, Deputy Head of Evaluation and Impact, ESRC. Key Themes. The nature of policy impact ESRC approaches to assessing policy impact Examples of impacts.

toby
Download Presentation

Impact of Social Science Research on Policy

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Impact of Social Science Research on Policy CEPR Research Training Networks in Social Sciences 11th October 2007 Ronni Littlewood, Deputy Head of Evaluation and Impact, ESRC

  2. Key Themes • The nature of policy impact • ESRC approaches to assessing policy impact • Examples of impacts

  3. Summary of Impact Work • International Symposium May 2005 • Approaches to assessing the policy and practice impact of social science research • Key Findings • Looking beyond dissemination to capture application by policy makers and practitioners • Examine approaches through which impact occurs • Capture the diversity of impacts • Significant methodological challenge, but few studies

  4. Policy and Practice Case Studies • Case studies are designed to: • Highlight the ways in which ESRC investments have achieved impact through their dissemination, networking, research and related activities • Identify specific impacts resulting from the research • Contribute to the development of assessment techniques for assessing the policy and practice impact of ESRC funded research

  5. Policy and Practice Case Studies • Future of Work Programme: details • 1998-2004 • Director: Professor Peter Nolan at the University of Leeds • Main Topics • Work and Employment in the 21st Century • Work-life balance • Impact of Globalisation on Human Resource Management Practices • Impact Assessment Approach • RAND Europe in collaboration with Brunel Health Economics Research Group • “Payback” approach – previous applications in health sciences; Arthritis Research Campaign • Logic Model of the research process • “Paybacks” = categories of impact

  6. Policy and Practice Case Studies • Future of Work Programme: Impact Assessment Approach • RAND Europe in collaboration with Brunel Health Economics Research Group • “Payback” approach – previous applications in health sciences; Arthritis Research Campaign • Logic Model of the research process • “Paybacks” = categories of impact

  7. Policy and Practice Case Studies • Future of Work Programme: Results and Discussion • Identified specific impacts from the programme (secondments, input to policy and legislation) • Impact issues (timing, collaboration, sensitivity and confidentiality, record keeping) • Methodological issues (application of linear model to the social sciences, timing, surveys vs. interviews)

  8. Policy and Practice Case Studies • Centre for Business Research • Cambridge University; ESRC funded from 1994-2004 • Directors: Professor Alan Hughes, Professor Simon Deakin • Issues: business strategy, impact of regulatory and legal environment on corporate governance, innovation and productivity in small business • Impact Assessment Approach • Science and Technology Policy Research Unit at University of Sussex • “Tracking forward” from research outputs (broadly defined) • Qualitative methods – surveys and interviews

  9. Policy and Practice Case Studies • Centre for Business Research: Results and Discussion • Identified specific impacts (including commissioned work, use of panel survey data and contribution to the formation of policy) • Impact issues: contract work, academic publications, the “Cambridge” brand • Methodology: non-linear “bi-directional” influence, contributory impact

  10. Case Study: Psychology Responsive Mode Grants • The approach was based on a ‘logical model’ of the relationships between researchers, knowledge brokers and intermediaries, users and beneficiaries • The study found the following examples of impact: • Work on children with Specific Language Impairment has increased awareness among speech therapists, charities and teachers, and has been used at Educational Needs Tribunals • Work on children’s gaze-aversion behaviour which has contributed to the training of teachers, police officers and social workers • Work on risk and resilience in childhood which contributed directly to government policy on working with young mothers • Research into detecting deception which has led to work with police trainers on the introduction of new interview protocols • The project has highlighted the fostering of non-academic impact by encouraging engagement at all levels

  11. Case Study: Psychology Responsive Mode Grants • Methodological Points Highlighted • Use of multiple methods enable the triangulation of findings and enhanced confidence in results – interviews and case studies provide insights into the nature (and process) of impact that would not be provided relying solely on quantitative indicators • Projects do not have the same infrastructure for facilitating knowledge transfer and impact that larger ESRC investments have, and attribution problems are therefore more pronounced

  12. Case Study: Politics and International Studies Responsive Mode • The approach involved an analysis of end of award reports in order to assess the potential of the projects for impact, followed by an analysis based on ‘unobtrusive’ or ‘non-reactive’ measures involving web-based searches, and databases of publications • The study found the following examples of impact: • Contributions to the initiation of citizenship ceremonies, development of the Health and Social Reform Bill 2001, introduction of the commission for Public and Patient Involvement in Health 2003, and implementation of EU regulations for environmental sustainability • Influence on parallel consent regulations In the Northern Ireland Assembly and contributions to induction training for new MPs in Westminster • Stimulus to the world Health Organisation’s development of a research centre on globalization, trade human rights, and has influenced research and strategy on military transformation • Input to UK television broadcasting company guidelines on covering elections in ways that minimise effects on voter behaviour

  13. Case Study: Politics and International Studies Responsive Mode • Methodological Points Highlighted • Multipleinfluences on policy making present particular challenges for demonstrating the impact of individual projects • The use of ‘unobtrusive measures’ including web-based search engines and publication databases can provide a valuable additional source of data about non-academic impact

  14. Case Study: Innovation Centres • A team from PriceWaterhouse Coopers have been appointed to carry out a policy and practice case study of three research centres on innovation, which received core funding from the ESRC between 1996-2006

  15. Economic Impact and ESRC KTEIG strategy • In March 2007 PA and SQW commissioned to undertake a study on economic impact of the UK Research Councils • Two work packages of case studies of research council investments on data collection and methodology for future assessments of economic impact • 18 Case studies across all the Research Councils were selected. ESRC’s case studies focused on two directive mode investments the Advanced Institute for Management (AIM) and the centre for the Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) • Combination of documentary analysis and interviews with stakeholders • Impacts in four main categories were: • ‘Development of human capital’ • ‘Business and commercial’ • Policy • Quality of Life

  16. Specific Impacts • Business and commercial impacts: AIM research initiative interacted with a wide range of businesses, through seminars and workshops. This resulted in the active sharing of research findings leading to changes in ways of approaching innovation in a number of business involved • Policy Impacts: CASE’s work ‘enabled government to make better policy, faster than it would have been produced’. Significant contribution to the development of government initiatives designed to tackle social exclusion. AIM contributed to the DTI’s innovation review 2003, by organizing strategic research forum in the review’s early stages. AIM’s research has also contributed to a more sophisticated understanding of the factors inhibiting UK productivity growth

  17. Limitations • Case studies are indicative of their broader impact. These case studies cover significantly less than 2% of Research Council expenditure in any one year, results in themselves do not provide a baseline against which future performance can be assessed • Opportunity to pilot a set of methods has occurred from these case studies, second work package should set out some of the methodological challenges

More Related