New reports measure impact of research | Research | EducationGuardian.co.uk: "The research councils have been looking at ways in which they can encourage researchers to think more about the economic impact of their work. One initiative that has generated a lot of controversy among academics is the councils' plan to consider the economic impact of research in the peer review process, where ideas are assessed and awarded funding. The councils plan to ask researchers to describe the potential economic impact of their ideas in their proposals for funding. But many researchers are worried that this could mean a move away from blue-skies science, where the impacts of research may only become obvious many years down the line. The PA Consulting report notes that in many of the 18 case studies, the resulting impact was not part of the original rationale for the research. The research councils admit that this suggests 'serendipity and opportunism are important factors for the research councils'."
Interesting report on the impact of research. Not sure whether this is a good or bad thing really. The inner economist in me thinks that it's a good thing for some economic awareness to exist in people's actions since they have a responsibility to the wider community (in a loose sense, I suppose). But... the other part of me thinks that research isn't just about the economics and that some ideas are ahead of their time, sure, but that doesn't mean their investigation doesn't have validity. I guess the main concern I have in my head is that the whole uncomfortable 'student as customer' thing is going to wend its way into research. 'Researcher as economically viable producer'. It just doesn't sit right. There's something 'other' to the messiness of education which makes trying to introduce quantitative measures as some kind of sole gold standard for entry misplaced.
2 comments:
This has been very insightful reading for me as I prepare for module E891 starting in October.
First and foremost, I'd like to thank you for finding the time to keep up a blog for the benefit of people like me (even four years on) while you were busy I'm sure staying on top of your course assignments.
Secondly, it's refreshing to get a student's perspective on educational research, as so much of what's out there is written by gurus or researchers who assume their readers have already had the required number of flying hours.
On the topic of this particular blog entry, keeping in mind the practical economic impact a potential research project is, I suppose, an inescapable evil, even if, in my view, those who pursue knowledge for its sake tend to make more unexpected and lasting contributions to the larger community than than those who focus on opportunistic research proposals. The current economic climate has exacerbated the situation for the social sciences and educational fields, as the long arm of cost-benefit analyses seems to have reached the halls of every university department.
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