Social Research Association (SRA) seminar on 'promoting effective dissemination' on 28 April. Chaired by Ceridwen Roberts, SRA Chair and University of Oxford.
Report by Rob Reynolds
There was good representation from GSR with three GSR Heads of Profession speaking:
- Jean Martin (ONS)
- Mary Hickman (Inland Revenue)
- George Clark (DWP)
Following four themes emerged as the main areas of discussion:
1. Increasing fragmentation
- of Government - agencies/NDPB/3rd sector
- of research - more reports of the public - diverse groups
- of the media - internet, texts, digital, 24/7
2. Impact
- Role of research against other evidence
- You can disseminate, but how do you make it have an impact? - requires different skills
- How do you measure impact?
3. Risk
- Researchers need to be braver and go further - if they won't make recommendations, someone else will
- Risk averse culture
- Media mishandling
4. Structures/resources
- Are commissioners tuned in to budgeting dissemination?
- Does University Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) discourage focus on dissemination?
The session closed with discussions about ' How can SRA help', considering development of toolkit/training/support.
> SRA website
