Wider Societal Value of Research and Consequences of Its Assessment: A Multi-Country and Multi-Method Study (MultiSocVal)

Many governments are showing a political commitment to research impact in their respective environments by investing in research evaluation initiatives at different scales. Often the initiatives are characterised by pragmatism, with little attention to the conceptualisation of ‘markers’ of research value and few critical views on the role of research in society. This creates an urgent need for comparative work with a strong theoretical and empirical basis to study the policy contexts and effects of national evaluation initiatives around impact and societal value. The project will address this need through a multi-country and multi-method study of research evaluation initiatives in Germany, Australia, the United Kingdom, Poland and South Africa. Bringing together an international and interdisciplinary team, the project seeks to (i) produce a comprehensive cross-national and cross-disciplinary overview of research value and related science policy; (ii) investigate what is considered valuable research and the tensions within and between countries; (iii) compare the effects of different research evaluation initiatives around impact on research activity and status in different countries; (iv) develop an integrated conceptual framework of research value to improve science policy and science practice; and (v) advance stakeholders’ understanding of the effects of research impact assessment for better future evaluation.