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![Page 1: Qualitative research: ethical evidence for policy making? Situating qualitative research in evidence- based research and systematic review agendas: RCBN.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022082816/56649ccf5503460f9499a8eb/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Qualitative research: ethical evidence for policy making?
Situating qualitative research in evidence-based research and systematic review
agendas: RCBN seminar, 24 June 2004, University of Sheffield
Lesley Saunders
Policy Adviser for Research
General Teaching Council for England
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Who are ‘policy makers’?
• national government: Ministers, civil servants• NDPBs• national professional bodies• national/local campaigning bodies• local government: elected members, officers• etc.
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Skills of policy-making?
• grasp complex remit quickly• interpret & adapt available evidence OR use hunches• intellectually agile in unpredictable environment• create consensus with wide range of partners/vested
interests• proactively shape intellectual & political environments• manage coded discussions & difficult negotiations• know what will count as success & exert leadership to
achieve it• take decisions in good faith (‘rationalist ideal’)
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‘Rationalist ideal’
It takes an extraordinary concatenation of circumstances for research to influence policy directly…. [rather] research helps people reconsider issues, it helps them think differently, it helps them re-conceptualise what the problem is and how prevalent it is, it helps them discard some old assumptions, it punctures old myths.
(Weiss, 1991)
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Risks when policy-makers look for ‘evidence’?
• rely on known & trusted researchers• swayed by well-known or visible research• use in-house or own-commissioned research• act individually – little use made of digests, e-mail alerts, etc.;• unaware of existing research & its implications• want research to provide unequivocal proof• use research selectively• lack requisite skills for research appraisal & interpretation• delegate research to specialists, with serious consequences
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Some factors and pressures in policy environment
• relentless focus on ‘deliverables’ & rapid, responsive, just-in-time, ‘good enough’ knowledge
• replacement of traditional knowledge dissemination by global/local networks: ‘info-nuggets’ & ‘evidence-lite’
• business & corporate research techniques like scenario-building, futurising
• puzzle of why ‘experts’ & scholars seen as part of problem in education policy making
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Questions for researchers
• responsibility to engage with decision-makers, practitioners & public?
• competitive edge in concepts, hypotheses, argument & explanatory power?
• ‘added value’ of qualitative (rather than quantitative)?• how well grounded in existing research methodologically
&substantively?• (how) will concerns of practitioners & school/college leaders be
addressed?• what engagement with other social science areas?• how communicate/advocate ethical criteria & principles?
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Making a difference: EPPI-centre systematic review of CPD
• policy implications secured by working with invited group of policy-makers on findings
• utility for practice secured by turning into GTC Research of the Month feature
• support for qualitative (= situated, process-related and context-specific) evidence
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URLs
http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/EPPIWeb/home.aspx
http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/EPPIWeb/dl.aspx?Path=reel%5Creview_groups%5CCPD%5Ccpd_rv1&FileName=cpd_rv1
http://www.gtce.org.uk/research/eppihome.asp
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GTC supports research-informed teaching & learning by:
• commissioning/co-funding research projects• commissioning expert briefings • membership of national advisory bodies (e.g. NERF, Funders Forum,
RLG)• setting up Teacher Data Forum• supporting dissemination of ESRC TLRP• sponsoring National Teacher Research Panel • developing Teachers’ Professional Learning Framework & Teacher
Learning Academy• Research of the Month website • special issue of ‘Teacher Development’ journal • linking with BERA, UCET, individual HEIs
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The GTC: becoming an evidence-informed organisation
Possible indicators?
• policy advice demonstrably grounded in evidence
• events have strong, explicit research & evidence theme
• policy colleagues keen/knowledgeable about research
• researchers knowledgeable about policy context
• researchers want to work with GTC
• GTC’s evidence base known about & used by others