Session 32: Research Capacity Building - Issues and Practices
| Convenors | Professor Amanda Coffey and Dr Chris Taylor |
Building capacity for empirical legal research: some questions about the links between methods and subjectsSharon Witherspoon - Deputy Director, Nuffield Foundation |
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| Abstract | In this short presentation, Sharon Witherspoon will discuss the Nuffield Inquiry into Empirical Legal Research and summarise some of its findings. She will then discuss the reasons why the Inquiry team has ended up recommending that research capacity in this area could best be fostered in research centres looking at particular substantive issues. She will also discuss some of the broader questions about social science research capacity that the Foundation has had to consider over the past few years. |
Building capacity for a practice based disciplineProf Joan Orme, Glasgow School of Social Work and Prof Jackie Powell, University of Southampton |
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| Abstract | This presentation will describe and analyse an ESRC funded Researcher Development Initiative to build research capacity within a wider research capacity strategy for a practice based discipline, social work. It will present a brief analysis of factors contributing to the identified lack of research capacity indicating why any developmental and/or remedial work undertaken has to take place across the academic professional life course and take account of the professional/practice interface. It will outline events held; provide data on characteristics of participants and their responses to the programme to date. It will reflect on this information and consider:
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Professor Andrew Pollard, Institute of Education |
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| Abstract | The Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) has been supporting the development of educational researchers since 2000, in every sense a lot has been learned. Education is a vulnerable field in terms of ESRC's demographic review and because of the range and quality of research activity. Initially, a 'needs analysis' was carried out and programmes of events were created to meet these diagnosed needs. In a second phase the emphasis was on developing capacity building within the social practices of researchers and life-historian projects. In the latest phase, the expertise of the community is being harvested, represented in public web-based resources and embedded in the learned societies and key organisations of the field. Support for CRS is a particular feature and several evaluation enquiries into these provisions have been conducted. Themes relate to the role of formal and informal learning in the range of forms of knowledge and skills in the field; the different employment status of researchers, and the tension between agency and practitioner. |
Professor Angela Dale, University of Manchester |
Abstract | The Research Methods Programme highlighted the fact that researchers are not just passionate about their chosen topic of research but also passionate about ensuring the quality of their research and engaging with methodological developments that may enhance quality. However, it is important that there is a dialogue between methodologists and research practitioners. Methodologists need to develop tools and resources that meet the requirements of practitioners; and practitioners may need to raise their understanding of the relevance and value of methodological developments. |
Building research capacity in Management and Business studies: a community generated initiativeProfessor Chris Huxham, University of Strathclyde Business School and The British Academy of Management |
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| Abstract | The ESRC’s examination of demography in the social sciences demonstrated convincingly that the requirements for experienced research active academics in the Management and Business Studies area would shortly far outweigh the numbers available unless action was taken. This presentation briefly outlines a major initiative taken by the MBS community, in collaboration with the ESRC, intended to bolster the number of entries into the area and support their development as new researchers. The initiative consists of several streams of support for a range of types of fellows and students and a matrix of developmental programmes to support them and others in the field. Discussant: Rose Wiles, NCRM |
Available downloadsThe Recent Development of Educational Research Capacityby Andrew Pollard Building capacity: Observations from the Methods Programme by Angela Dale Building research capacity in Management and Business studies: a community generated initiative by Chris Huxham Building Capacity for a Practice Based Discipline by Joan Orme and Jackie Powell Building Capacity for Empirical Legal Research: Some questions about the links between methods and subjects by Sharon Witherspoon |