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

Who are ‘policy makers’?

• national government: Ministers, civil servants• NDPBs• national professional bodies• national/local campaigning bodies• local government: elected members, officers• etc.

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’)

‘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)

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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