A talk given by Dr. Stella Mascarenhas-Keyes of the Research Impact Unit, Department for Education, at the Leeds Social Sciences Institute Seminar "The Use of Evidence in Policy Making?" on 22 Oct 2010 at the University of Leeds.
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The Use of Evidence in Policy
Development and Implementation:
Constraints and Strategies
Dr. Stella Mascarenhas-Keyes
Research Impact Unit, Department for Education
Email: Stella.Mascarenhas-Keyes@education.gsi.gov.uk
Presentation to Leeds University: The Use of Evidence in Policy Making
22 October 2010
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STRUCTURE OF PRESENTATION
The Policy Process in DfE
Research Impact: Practical Constraints
Research Impact: Measurement Constraints
Case Study: International Knowledge-based
Entrepreneurship
Conclusion: What University Researchers can
do to Increase Impact
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Research Impact: Practical Constraints
within Government
Timeliness of the evidence
Project managers spend relatively less time on impact activities
Limited spend in research budget on impact activities
Limited identification of potential users
Limited proactive engagement with potential users
Limited use of a range of dissemination media
Limited absorptive capacity of policy makers and other users of
research
But attempts being made to reduce constraints and get more
value for money
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Research Impact: Measurement
Constraints
Difficult to measure impact as take up of evidence is variable
Can have instrumental and easily recognisable direct impact
Can have non-linear impact, dependent on interactions, nature
of research and findings, and social and political contexts
Can have impact on theoretical approaches and concepts,
ways of thinking, attitudes etc. – process impacts less
tangible, less visible and difficult to measure
Impact can occur over a varying timescale
Examples of impact at February 2010 Conference on The Use of
Evidence in Policy Development and Delivery
https://secure2.symphonyem.co.uk/ResearchConference2010
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Case Study: Research on International
Knowledge Based Entrepreneurship
ESRC Knowledge Placement Fellow 2007
Seconded to De Montfort University
50% funding from ESRC
25% funding from DIUS
25% funding from DBERR
Office in government and university
Empirical research in UK and China
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Strategy 1: Laid Foundations for
Research Impact
Got Government management on board
Got multiple policy colleagues on board
Used strategic approach to steering group
membership
Identified suitable academic collaborators
Produced high quality peer reviewed policy
focused report
http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/corporate/migratedd/publi
cations/d/dius_rr_08_20.pdf
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Strategy 2: Leveraged Research and
Policy Links within Central Government
Used access to published and internal policy
documents
Used access to diverse policy colleagues/analysts
Used access to Special Advisers/Ministers
– Become aware of political context of evidence use
Used knowledge of changing policy priorities
Used formal and informal opportunities for
continuous Knowledge Transfer
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Strategy 3: Maintained Links with the
Academic Community
Kept abreast with theoretical and methodological
developments
Made greater use of researchers’ tacit knowledge
Found opportunities to enhance policy focus of academic
research
Increased awareness of external research to take to
government
Participated in national and international conferences to ‘take
government to the people’
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Strategy 4: Worked with External
Stakeholders and the Frontline
Made presentations to multiple stakeholders
– regional and local government
– University management
– British Bankers Association
– Broad based practitioner conference
Used informal opportunities to drip feed evidence
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Indicators of impact
Minister’s positive response to research recommendations
Number of downloads of report and requests for report
Take up of evidence in policy documents e.g. 2008 Enterprise
White Paper, DIUS review of HE student and graduate
entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Task Force submission to
minister
Change in regional policy on working with universities
Change in one bank’s policy which improved access to finance
Raised awareness of ESRC scheme: citation in Government
magazine, ESRC publications, Council for Science &
Technology Report, presentations at Science & Innovation
conference and follow ups
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Conclusion: What University
Researchers can do to Increase Impact
Understand the culture of government: breadth not depth
Cultivate and leverage government research and policy links
Cultivate a policy perspective: read policy focused research
reports
Engage in capacity building: use government research reports
in your curricula
Cultivate an awareness of the types of evidence in demand
Embed impact in the design of research proposals
Write up your research to engage a policy audience
Develop resilience: it can take a while before your research is
used… although you may not know it!