Evaluation of Research in Context: Quick Scan of an Emerging Field

This report from the Rathenau Instituut provides an overview of the process and materials available for ensuring a better understanding of evaluating research in context.

"Why is this important? Often, evaluation of research only focuses on one specific type of output: the scholary publications in high impact journals – as this is seen as the main output of research. However, it is increasingly accepted that researchers and research groups undertake research with a variety of goals, of which contributing to the research front is only one. Other intended outcomes of research activities are related to innovation, teaching, problem solving, consulting, and so on. As individual research groups may have different portfolios of goals and activities, the evaluation of research should reflect this heterogeniety. In other words, research evaluation is context dependent. This then poses the question of appropriate criteria, performance indicators and evaluation procedures to be used. And it asks for reflection about the role of research evaluation in decisions about research agendas, funding and organizing research. In many different places, nationally and internationally, work is being done to increase our understanding of how to evaluate research in context. This draft report is a first attempt to give an overview of this work: people, projects, publications, organizations, conferences, and so on."

Contents

  • Evaluation of Research in Context – Main Concepts
  • Scientific quality
  • Societal quality
  • Societal impact
  • Contextual evaluation
  • Research evaluation - ex ante, ex post
  • Research evaluation – formative, summative
  • Governance
  • Multi-, inter- and transdisciplinarity
  • Stakeholder oriented evaluation
  • Evaluation of Research in Context – Thematic Overview
  • Interdisciplinary Research
  • Transdisciplinary Research 

Sources

van der Weijden, I., Oostveen, A., van den Besselaar, P., & Spaapen, J. Rathenau Instituut, Department Science System Assessment. (2007). Evaluation of research in context a quick scan of an emerging field. Retrieved from website: http://www.allea.org/Content/ALLEA/WG%20Evaluating/NL_Quick_Scan.pdf