strategies to enhance research impact: six lessons

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Strategies to enhance research impact: Six lessons. John Young [email protected] c

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John Young's presentation at the GDN workshop on 'Maximizing the Impact of Agricultural Research in Africa' held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in October 2008. In his talk, he reviews and expands upon the six lessons that ODI's RAPID programme has learned about helping research inform policy and practice.

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Page 1: Strategies to enhance research impact: Six lessons

Strategies to enhance research impact: Six lessons.

John Young [email protected]

Page 2: Strategies to enhance research impact: Six lessons

RAPID programme in ODI• Promoting evidence-based

development policy & practice• Through

– Research – Advice – Public Affairs– Capacity-building

• Working with:– researchers– policymakers– parliamentarians– southern think tanks

for further information see: www.odi.org.uk/rapid / www.odi.org.uk/cspp

Page 3: Strategies to enhance research impact: Six lessons

Identify the problem

Commission research

Analyse the results

Choose the best option

Establish the policy

Evaluation

Implement the policy

Policy makers do not...

Page 4: Strategies to enhance research impact: Six lessons

Monitoring and Evaluation

Agenda Setting

DecisionMaking

Policy Implementation

Policy Formulation

Policy processes are...

Civil Society

DonorsCabinet

Parliament

Ministries

Private Sector

Page 5: Strategies to enhance research impact: Six lessons

Policy is chaos

“The whole life of policy is a chaos of purposes and accidents. It is not at all a matter of the rational implementation of the so-called decisions through selected strategies”

Clay & Schaffer (1984), Room for Manoeuvre: An Exploration of Public Policy in Agricultural and Rural Development, Heineman Educational Books, London

Page 6: Strategies to enhance research impact: Six lessons

Chronic Poverty in Uganda

Kate Bird et al, Fracture Points in Social Policies for Chronic Poverty Reduction, ODI WP242, 2004 (http://www.odi.org.uk/publications/working_papers/wp242.pdf)

Page 7: Strategies to enhance research impact: Six lessons

Policy makers are…

• Speed

• Superficiality

• Spin

• Secrecy

• Scientific Ignorance

Vincent Cable – Lib. Democrat MP & Shadow Minister of FinanceMore at: www.odi.org.uk/RAPID/Meetings/Evidence

…practically incapable of using research-based evidence because of the 5 Ss…

Page 8: Strategies to enhance research impact: Six lessons

Evidence

Experience & Expertise

Judgement

Resources

Values and Policy

Context

Habits & Tradition

Lobbyists & Pressure Groups

Pragmatics & Contingencies

There are many other factors

Source: Phil Davies Impact to Insight Meeting, ODI, 2005

Page 9: Strategies to enhance research impact: Six lessons

Different notions of evidence

• Colloquial (Contextual)

• Anything that seems reasonable

• Policy relevant

• Timely

• Clear Message

Policy Makers’ Evidence

Source: Phil Davies Impact to Insight Meeting, ODI, 2005

• ‘Scientific’ (Context free)

• Proven empirically

• Theoretically driven

• As long as it takes

• Caveats and qualifications

Researchers’ Evidence

Page 10: Strategies to enhance research impact: Six lessons

Health Care in Tanzania

“The results of household disease surveys informed processes of health service reform which contributed to a 43 and 46 per cent reduction in infant mortality between 2000 and 2003 in two districts in rural Tanzania.”

TEHIP Project, Tanzania: www.idrc.ca/tehip

Page 11: Strategies to enhance research impact: Six lessons

An analytical framework

The political context – political and economic structures and processes, culture, institutional pressures, incremental vs radical change etc.

The evidence – credibility, the degree it challenges received wisdom, research approaches and methodology, simplicity of the message, how it is packaged etc

External Influences Socio-economic and cultural influences, donor policies etc

The links between policyand research communities – networks, relationships, power, competing discourses, trust, knowledge etc.

Page 12: Strategies to enhance research impact: Six lessons

A Practical Framework

External Influences political context

evidencelinks

Politics and Policymaking

Media, Advocacy, Networking Research,

learning & thinking

Scientific information exchange & validation

Policy analysis, & research

Campaigning, Lobbying

Page 13: Strategies to enhance research impact: Six lessons

What researchers need to know• The external environment: Who are the key

actors? What is their agenda? How do they influence the political context?

• The political context: Is there political interest in change? Is there room for manoeuvre? How do they perceive the problem?

• The evidence: Is it there? Is it relevant? Is it practically useful? Are the concepts familiar or new? Does it need re-packaging?

• Links: Who are the key individuals? Are there existing networks to use? How best to transfer the information? The media? Campaigns?

Page 14: Strategies to enhance research impact: Six lessons

What you need to do

What need to know What need to do How to do it

Political Context:

Evidence

Links

• Who are the policymakers?• Is there demand for ideas?• What is the policy process?

• What is the current theory?• What are the narratives?• How divergent is it?

• Who are the stakeholders?• What networks exist?• Who are the connectors,

mavens and salesmen?

• Get to know the policymakers.• Identify friends and foes.• Prepare for policy

opportunities. • Look out for policy windows.

• Work with them – seek commissions

• Strategic opportunism – prepare for known events + resources for others

• Establish credibility• Provide practical solutions• Establish legitimacy.• Present clear options• Use familiar narratives.

• Build a reputation• Action-research• Pilot projects to generate

legitimacy• Good communication

• Get to know the others• Work through existing

networks.• Build coalitions.• Build new policy networks.

• Build partnerships.• Identify key networkers,

mavens and salesmen.• Use informal contacts

Page 15: Strategies to enhance research impact: Six lessons

Policy entrepreneurs

Storytellers

Engineers

Networkers

Fixers

Page 16: Strategies to enhance research impact: Six lessons

Practical Tools

Overarching Tools - The RAPID Framework - Using the Framework - The Entrepreneurship

Questionnaire

Context Assessment Tools- Stakeholder Analysis - Forcefield Analysis - Writeshops - Policy Mapping - Political Context Mapping

Communication Tools - Communications Strategy- SWOT analysis - Message Design - Making use of the media

Research Tools - Case Studies - Episode Studies - Surveys - Bibliometric Analysis- Focus Group Discussion

Policy Influence Tools- Influence Mapping & Power Mapping - Lobbying and Advocacy - Campaigning: A Simple Guide - Competency self-assessment

Page 17: Strategies to enhance research impact: Six lessons

Conclusions

• focus more on policy than research• establish different incentives / culture• establish different systems• spend more on communications• engage with different actors• produce different products• be ready to seize unexpected policy

opportunities and move very fast!

To improve impact you need to really want to do it because you may need to:

Page 18: Strategies to enhance research impact: Six lessons

For further information

ebpdn – www.ebpdn.org

RAPID - www.odi.org.uk/rapid

– Working Papers – Briefing Papers– Books– Case Studies

Contact: [email protected]