Taking a sideways look at George Ritzer’s famous McDonaldization thesis, Titus Alexander argues that rather than being an iron cage, social scientists have much to gain from treating such institutions as real time experiments and social models. In his …
Category: research impact
Four challenges for funding research with societal goals
Drawing on a recent study of systemic challenges to delivering research funding for societal change and evidence from a recent meeting of research funders, Andreas Kjær Stage, Carter Walter Bloch, Duncan Andrew Thomas, Maria-Theresa Norn and Irene Ramo…
A new resource for policy relevant research – Introducing the Areas of Research Interest database
Kathryn Oliver discusses the recent launch of the Areas of Research Interest Database. A new tool that promises to provide a mechanism to link researchers, funders and policymakers more effectively collaboratively and transparently in the UK. Areas of …
Five lessons to deal with uncertainty in research impact evaluation
Reflecting on carrying out impact evaluation as part of the The Research for Health in Humanitarian crises programme, Cordelia Lonsdale and Gloria Seruwagi, discuss common challenges faced in evaluating impact, particularly when outcomes don’t co…
Filling the gaps – can research play a more innovative role in adult social care?
The interface between research and the contexts in which it is used are often taken as a given. Discussing findings from a study into research use in adult social care, Annette Boaz, Juliette Malley and Raphael Wittenberg suggest that in areas where re…
Can you ever be an expert in research impact?
Demonstrating a specialism for research impact is an increasingly sought after attribute for academics, research adjacent staff and growing numbers of impact professionals. Drawing on work carried out to design a course in foundational knowledge for re…
Two frameworks to support individual and institutional community engagement
Drawing on qualitative evidence from community engaged academics, Wade B. Kelly and Lisa M. Given outline how two frameworks for context-informed, community engagement can support researchers and research institutions to foster social change. Effective…
In the community: Open data in academic publishing
Learn more about how Dryad has supported data sharing since our inception in 2008, and the impact we have in advancing scientific research in this recent presentation by Dryad’s Executive Director, Jen Gibson. As part of the IntechOpen Journals webinar…
Why does impact still feel like an add-on to research designs?
Reflecting on his role as an academic and member of a research funding organisation, Duncan Green, considers how impact has in some ways still not become embedded in research culture and is often treated a bureaucratic hurdle to overcome. Because I hav…
Going slow means changing the world at the speed of trust
How does change happen in communities that have been persistently marginalised? Drawing on work for his recent book focused on successful movements for social change, Sascha Haselmayer argues against short-term interventions and fixes and for a ‘slow l…