This post is written by two great minds in the impact sector:
Kaitohutohu | Research Impact Advisor
Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury
Member, Aotearoa Research Impact (ARI) Community of Practice
Learning & Development Advisor
Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research
Member, Aotearoa Research Impact (ARI) Community of Practice
Most researchers want their work to make a difference and often research is tackling some of the world’s most wicked problems. Increasingly funders, organisations and society at large are asking for data that shows the positive impact of research. No longer sufficient to provide knowledge-based contributions like papers in leading international journals, there is a need to provide evidence of the direct and tangible benefits for society coming from research.
Research impact is defined by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) as “a change to the economy, society or environment, beyond contribution to knowledge and skills in research organisations”. Figure 1 below shows the Impact Life Cycle developed by IPEN, highlighting the circular and iterative process of creating research impact.
Having real world impact can be challenging not least because it is influenced by factors beyond the researcher’s control. Even the best laid plans might be disrupted by any number of things, such as natural disasters, changes in government or the financial environment, or just the practical reality of how long it takes to change complex issues and systems.
However, there are a few steps you can take to try to maximise your impact, by planning for it from the very beginning and ensuring you keep it on your radar throughout the research life cycle (see above). Avoid a ‘set and forget’ approach. Through ongoing reflection, conversation and collaboration research teams can ensure responsiveness and the evolution of design and processes to maximise impact.
Set your strategy and start with the end in mind. How do you want things to be different? What is the major problem or issue that you are addressing and how exactly will your research help create positive change? Researchers are often good at describing what issue they are working on and why it matters. But too often there is a less nuanced plan of exactly how the research will lead to specific change beyond new understanding about an issue.
Identify your impact pathway(s): In planning for change, you need to consider in what domain(s) your research can create change. The figure shown below was developed by IPEN, who have identified the range of different pathways where research can have impact in the Aotearoa New Zealand context. Researchers want to think about how their work will contribute to, is contributing to, or has contributed to changes across the various domains detailed below. Which pathway(s) does your research target?
Figure 2. Diagram of impact pathways developed by IPEN, a national impact group with representatives from each Crown Research Institute (CRI) as presented in November 2023
Find friends: Identify your ‘stakeholders’ broadly, including the individuals and groups affected by, interested in, and influential over the research and its foreseeable application. This is important to minimise risk and detrimental impact, as well as to identify those who will be critical enablers of impact through the pathway(s). There are resources that can help with how to identify the key players in your network, such as tools developed by Professor Mark Reed for How to do stakeholder analysis (fasttrackimpact.com). Do this early and foster ongoing, collaborative processes to ensure you’re on the right track.
How will you know your work has had a positive impact? Measuring your research impact will require credible quantitative or qualitative data that can stand as evidence of the quality, importance, benefits, or value of your work for next or end-users. There is no one size fits all approach to impact measurement. You’ll want to think carefully about how to evidence the likely, emerging or past influence of your work within:
biota, ecosystems, and the environment;
communities, populations, society and its systems, such as government and legislation;
values, practices, and culture;
the production, distribution, flow and use of resources, goods and services, and the economy.
Ideally, research projects and programmes should be designed and resourced to capture such information from the outset, relative to each individual project and its circumstances. However, we know that this is not always the case. Impact data might be based on observations (or perceptions) by next or end-users and communicated directly or indirectly back to the research team as solicited or unsolicited feedback. Or it might be something researchers can confidently assume based on specific developments logically linked to our work. Whatever it is, be sure to have a system for capturing your impact evidence.
Learn more. The good news is that most researchers are struggling with articulating and measuring their research impact—you are not alone. As a research sector we’re all trying to advance our understanding and skills to plan for and generate positive research impact. Here are a few additional resources on research impact to learn more and to apply to your work:
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