SSH Evaluation: Reconciling needs and methods

By 27 October 2016

Topic

ENRESSH Stakeholder meeting: SSH Evaluation: Reconciling needs and methods

 

The Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, AKC, Husova 4a, 110 00 Praha 1, Czech Republic

Prague 19-20 January 2016

The European Network for Research Evaluation for the Social Sciences and Humanities (COST action 15137) is running a two-day workshop on qualitative and quantitative indictors for SSH research destined to senior managers and administrators concerned with research evaluation and funding.

ENRESSH seeks to bring together a wide variety of actors involved in the promotion, evaluation and evaluation policy of the SSH. The outlook of institutional stakeholders is of prime importance so this first event will take as its target audience those who are actively involved in policy making on evaluation issues.

The event will consist of plenary sessions and small discussions groups so as to give a maximum of time for discussion as to key issues.

Topics under discussion will be:

  • Qualitative and quantitative evaluation:  Expert and peer-review, indicator based evaluation, case studies and narratives
    1. Areas of expertise: journal rating; publisher ranking; book scoring; Google Scholar and other web-based resources; tables of equivalence between books and articles; national databases; qualitative evaluation methodologies, case studies, narratives
  • Outcomes and consequences of evaluation: (re)distribution of funds, advise, specific programmes
    • Needs analysis: methodological, cooperation, training, acceptancy and efficiency.

Programme

Thursday 19th January

10:00- 12:30 Morning Session

  • Welcome from Academy. Housekeeping information
  • Presentation of ENRESSH (COST Action 15137) and the Stakeholder’s event by the Chair, Dr. Ioana Galleron and the leader of WG4, Pr. Geoffrey Williams.
  • Speed presentations of the participants (national SSH research evaluation issues).
  • State of the Art: the representations of research quality in the SSH (Dr. Michael Ochsner, leader of WG1); impact of the SSH (Dr. Reetta Muhonnen); databases about the SSH production (Dr. Tim Engels, leader of WG3)

12h00-12h30         Question and Answer session

14:00-18:00 Afternoon session

14:00-15:30 Keynote speaker

16:00-18:00 Subgroups

1° In the context of your country, how do you differentiate, if at all, an evaluation exercise so as to adapt it to SSH production and communication practices and other aspects that may differentiate the SSH?

Moderator: Pr. Jon Holm

2° In the context of your country, how do you deal with acceptability issues when putting into place SSH evaluation? By acceptability, we mean how the SSH researchers themselves perceive the evaluation exercise and methods.

Moderator: Pr. Andrea Bonaccorsi

3° In the context of your country, how do you document impact of the SSH? What definition of impact do you apply?

Friday 20th January

9:00 – 11:00 Morning session. Subgroups meetings

4° In the context of your country, how is data about SSH research production collected, standardised and used?

Moderator: Pr. Gunnar Sivertsen

5° In the context of your country, what is the impact of evaluation on early stage investigators, for example in terms of recruitment, promotion and career path

Moderator: Dr. Jolanta Sinkuniene

6° In the context of your country, how do you encourage interdisciplinarity and the embedding of SSH in other programs

Moderator: Pr. Nina Hoffman

11h30 – 13h00 Reports from the subgroups and summing up