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0000007307 00000 n Here we address types of evidence that need to be captured to enable an overview of impact to be developed. Although metrics can provide evidence of quantitative changes or impacts from our research, they are unable to adequately provide evidence of the qualitative impacts that take place and hence are not suitable for all of the impact we will encounter. We take a more focused look at the impact component of the UK Research Excellence Framework taking place in 2014 and some of the challenges to evaluating impact and the role that systems might play in the future for capturing the links between research and impact and the requirements we have for these systems. Over the past year, there have been a number of new posts created within universities, such as writing impact case studies, and a number of companies are now offering this as a contract service. Standard approaches actively used in programme evaluation such as surveys, case studies, bibliometrics, econometrics and statistical analyses, content analysis, and expert judgment are each considered by some (Vonortas and Link, 2012) to have shortcomings when used to measure impacts. To achieve compatible systems, a shared language is required. Understand. The university imparts information, but it imparts it imaginatively. Again the objective and perspective of the individuals and organizations assessing impact will be key to understanding how temporal and dissipated impact will be valued in comparison with longer-term impact. Time, attribution, impact. , . 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). As such research outputs, for example, knowledge generated and publications, can be translated into outcomes, for example, new products and services, and impacts or added value (Duryea et al. There is . On the societal impact of publicly funded Circular Bioeconomy research in Europe, Devices of evaluation: Institutionalization and impactIntroduction to the special issue, The rocky road to translational science: An analysis of Clinical and Translational Science Awards, The nexus between research impact and sustainability assessment: From stakeholders perspective. A discussion on the benefits and drawbacks of a range of evaluation tools (bibliometrics, economic rate of return, peer review, case study, logic modelling, and benchmarking) can be found in the article by Grant (2006). Assessment Terms and Definitions - California State University, Northridge Evaluative research is a type of research used to evaluate a product or concept, and collect data to help improve your solution. Cooke and Nadim (2011) also noted that using a linear-style taxonomy did not reflect the complex networks of impacts that are generally found. 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. (2007) surveyed researchers in the US top research institutions during 2005; the survey of more than 6000 researchers found that, on average, more than 40% of their time was spent doing administrative tasks. The process of evaluation involves figuring out how well the goals have been accomplished. Where quantitative data were available, for example, audience numbers or book sales, these numbers rarely reflected the degree of impact, as no context or baseline was available. The University and College Union (University and College Union 2011) organized a petition calling on the UK funding councils to withdraw the inclusion of impact assessment from the REF proposals once plans for the new assessment of university research were released. Assessment refers to a related series of measures used to determine a complex attribute of an individual or group of individuals. A very different approach known as Social Impact Assessment Methods for research and funding instruments through the study of Productive Interactions (SIAMPI) was developed from the Dutch project Evaluating Research in Context and has a central theme of capturing productive interactions between researchers and stakeholders by analysing the networks that evolve during research programmes (Spaapen and Drooge, 2011; Spaapen et al. Measurement assessment and evaluation helps the teachers to determine the learning progress of the students. 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. 2007). SIAMPI has been used within the Netherlands Institute for health Services Research (SIAMPI n.d.). 0000008591 00000 n 2009), and differentiating between the various major and minor contributions that lead to impact is a significant challenge. By allowing impact to be placed in context, we answer the so what? question that can result from quantitative data analyses, but is there a risk that the full picture may not be presented to demonstrate impact in a positive light? 0000001883 00000 n Definition of Evaluation "Evaluation is the collection, analysis and interpretation of information about any aspect of a programme of education, as part of a recognised process of judging its effectiveness, its efficiency and any other outcomes it may have." Mary Thorpe 2. To demonstrate to government, stakeholders, and the wider public the value of research. Collating the evidence and indicators of impact is a significant task that is being undertaken within universities and institutions globally. The case study approach, recommended by the RQF, was combined with significance and reach as criteria for assessment. n.d.). Impact has become the term of choice in the UK for research influence beyond academia. Understanding what impact looks like across the various strands of research and the variety of indicators and proxies used to evidence impact will be important to developing a meaningful assessment. There is a distinction between academic impact understood as the intellectual contribution to ones field of study within academia and external socio-economic impact beyond academia. The Value of Public Sector R&D, Assessing impacts of higher education systems, National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement, Through a Glass, Darkly: Measuring the Social Value of Universities, Describing the Impact of Health Research: A Research Impact Framework, LSE Public Policy Group. 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. Here we outline a few of the most notable models that demonstrate the contrast in approaches available. 0000011201 00000 n Definition of Assessment & Evaluation in Education by Different Authors Although based on the RQF, the REF did not adopt all of the suggestions held within, for example, the option of allowing research groups to opt out of impact assessment should the nature or stage of research deem it unsuitable (Donovan 2008). (PDF) The Definition of Measurement Process and its - ResearchGate Overview of the types of information that systems need to capture and link. 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. Its objective is to evaluate programs, improve program effectiveness, and influence programming decisions. Definitions of Evaluation ( by different authors) According to Hanna- "The process of gathering and interpreted evidence changes in the behavior of all students as they progress through school is called evaluation". 0000348060 00000 n Times Higher Education, Assessing the Impact of Social Science Research: Conceptual, Methodological and Practical Issues, A Profile of Federal-Grant Administrative Burden Among Federal Demonstration Partnership Faculty, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, The Australian Research Quality Framework: A live experiment in capturing the social, economic, environmental and cultural returns of publicly funded research, Reforming the Evaluation of Research. (2007:11-12), describes and explains the different types of value claim. This article aims to explore what is understood by the term research impact and to provide a comprehensive assimilation of available literature and information, drawing on global experiences to understand the potential for methods and frameworks of impact assessment being implemented for UK impact assessment. We will focus attention towards generating results that enable boxes to be ticked rather than delivering real value for money and innovative research. %PDF-1.3 What are the reasons behind trying to understand and evaluate research impact? (2011) Maximising the Impacts of Your Research: A Handbook for Social Scientists (Pubd online) <, Lets Make Science Metrics More Scientific, Measuring Impact Under CERIF (MICE) Project Blog, Information systems of research funding agencies in the era of the Big Data. By evaluating the contribution that research makes to society and the economy, future funding can be allocated where it is perceived to bring about the desired impact. The quality and reliability of impact indicators will vary according to the impact we are trying to describe and link to research. Not only are differences in segmentation algorithm, boundary definition, and tissue contrast a likely cause of the poor correlation , but also the two different software packages used in this study are not comparable from a technical point of view. In the majority of cases, a number of types of evidence will be required to provide an overview of impact. A Review of International Practice, HM Treasury, Department for Education and Skills, Department of Trade and Industry, Yes, Research can Inform Health Policy; But can we Bridge the Do-Knowing its been Done Gap?, Council for Industry and Higher Education, UK Innovation Research Centre. For example, some of the key learnings from the evaluation of products and personnel often apply to the evaluation of programs and policies and vice versa. Muffat says - "Evaluation is a continuous process and is concerned with than the formal academic achievement of pupils. The justification for a university is that it preserves the connection between knowledge and the zest of life, by uniting the young and the old in the imaginative consideration of learning. There are standardized tests involved in the process of measurement assessment and evaluation to enable the students to make better use of the data available in the daily classroom. (2007), Nason et al. 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). The Payback Framework enables health and medical research and impact to be linked and the process by which impact occurs to be traced. The fast-moving developments in the field of altmetrics (or alternative metrics) are providing a richer understanding of how research is being used, viewed, and moved. 0000008241 00000 n Evaluation of impact is becoming increasingly important, both within the UK and internationally, and research and development into impact evaluation continues, for example, researchers at Brunel have developed the concept of depth and spread further into the Brunel Impact Device for Evaluation, which also assesses the degree of separation between research and impact (Scoble et al. The definition of health is not just a theoretical issue, because it has many implications for practice, policy, and health services. 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. It has been suggested that a major problem in arriving at a definition of evaluation is confusion with related terms such as measurement, n.d.). It is very important to make sure people who have contributed to a paper, are given credit as authors. These case studies were reviewed by expert panels and, as with the RQF, they found that it was possible to assess impact and develop impact profiles using the case study approach (REF2014 2010). Impact is derived not only from targeted research but from serendipitous findings, good fortune, and complex networks interacting and translating knowledge and research. According to Hanna- " The process of gathering and interpreted evidence changes in the behavior of all students as they progress through school is called evaluation". While assessments are often equated with traditional testsespecially the standardized tests developed by testing companies and administered to large populations . 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.