Transforming research
Research practices are fast evolving. The rise of interdisciplinarity, the popularity of co-produced research, the ever-increasing importance of impact and the decolonial turn present challenges to traditional approaches to research and provide innovative and pioneering new methods and theories with which to address the challenges of the 21st century.
Kristen Mills, Jennifer Lawlor, Jennifer Neal, Zachary Neal, and Kathryn McAlindon explore how educators and policy makers conceptualise research in order to illuminate points of alignment and misalignment as well as future directions for bridging policy and practice. Their article 'What is research? Educators’ conceptions and alignment with United States federal policies', published in Evidence & Policy, has been awarded the 2019 Carol Weiss Prize.…Read more
Research having an impact on policy, and the wider world, can be extremely hard to quantify, but on occasion we find an example that illustrates the great potential we have to make a difference. …Read more
The thought of getting published can be daunting. At Bristol University Press we want to make sure that research that has the potential to impact positively on the world is out there, so we are keen to support first-time authors and early career researchers on the journey to publication. Here Rebecca Tomlinson, our Editor for Read More
What matters most in how poverty shapes children’s wellbeing and development? How can data inform social policy and approaches to improving outcomes for poorer children? What makes evidence useful? Young Lives has contributed powerful findings on the multiple impacts of poverty on the young. Using life course analysis from the Young Lives study of 12,000 Read More
Capturing the voices, views and experiences of children and young people directly and involving them more actively in the research process are increasingly seen as essential for good social research, evaluation, policy and service development. Often, the perspectives of children and young people are filtered through the interpretations of adults: with either parents or carers Read More
How has the role of evidence in policy and practice changed in the last 20 years? Recent events such as Michael Gove’s claim that we have “had enough of experts” and the prevalence of fake news create a sense that decision makers apparently choose not to take academic research into account. But there is hope. Read More
Aksel Ersoy, editor of The Impact of Co-production, discusses the debate around the ways public engagement can go beyond a simple consultation and how it can be ‘relevant’ in academia.…Read more