Catherine Lyall

Flows of Knowledge, Expertise and Influence: A Method for Assessing Policy and Practice Impacts from Social Science Research

Social science research undoubtedly does impact on public policy and practice but such non-academic impacts are rarely amenable to precise, quantitative metrics. In the interests of accountability, it is however possible to find proxy indicators of connectivity with research users and these may form steps toward impacts. Understanding these connections can lead to a deeper appreciation of the factors that shape the processes leading to research uptake. This study adopted a detailed and largely qualitative approach to identify the flows of knowledge, expertise and influence that take place during the process of knowledge transfer in order to trial a method for assessing policy and practice impacts from social science research. As a corollary to this assessment, the study further identified five factors that can influence and enhance the process of knowledge exchange between researchers and users. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Assessing end-use relevance of public sector research organisations

Abstract Measuring the effective impact of research and its relevance to society is a difficult undertaking but one that the public sector is keen to embrace. Identifying end-users of research and capturing their views of research relevance are challenging tasks and not something that has been extensively reported. The evaluation of end-use relevance demands a shift in organisational mindset and performance indicators away from readily quantifiable outputs towards a consideration of more qualitative end-user outcomes that are less amenable to measurement, requiring both a greater tolerance of ambiguity and a willingness to learn from the evaluation process.

New Modes of Governance : Developing an Integrated Policy Approach to Science, Technology, Risk and the Environment

Contents: New Approaches To Governance: Shifting policy debates and the implications for governance, Catherine Lyall and Joyce Tait The governance of technology, Perri 6 The governance challenges of breakthrough science and technology, Graham Spinardi and Robin Williams. Developing An Integrated Policy Approach: Life science innovation: policy and foresight, Thomas Reiss and Joyce Tait Developing an integrated approach to risk: the ILGRA network, James McQuaid Rural policy: a highlands and islands perspective, Frank Rennie. The Limits To Integration: Hypermobility: a challenge to governance, John Adams Environmental policy integration for sustainable technologies: rationale and practical experiences at EU level, Julia Hertin and Frans Berkhout The challenges of policy integration from an international perspective: the case of GMOs, Joseph Murphy and Joanna Chataway A new mode of governance for science, technology, risk and the environment?, Joyce Tait and Catherine Lyall Index.

Changing boundaries: The role of policy networks in the multi-level governance of science and innovation in Scotland

Regional boundaries and distinct institutions and policy agendas confer on Scotland a characteristic regional system of innovation that affords multiple opportunities for interactions between policy-makers and policy targets. Scotland should offer a set of circumstances congenial to the operation of policy networks, which might facilitate policy integration. However, the predominance of the public sector and the gate-keeping roles therein still present significant barriers to the effective operation of such networks and militate against an integrated policy approach. This Scottish case study provides lessons on policy-making in multi-level, multi-actor spaces for other regional governance systems. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Foresight in a multi-level governance structure: policy integration and communication

Foresight is widely interpreted as the process of fostering scientific research to support technological innovation and hence regional and national competitiveness. Policy integration, across administrative levels, is seen as crucial to achieving these goals. Our analysis looks at policies and their integration in the contexts of science, Foresight and governance at regional, national, European and global levels and we draw some conclusions relevant to their implementation, particularly at the regional level. We use Scotland as an illustrative example, where the recent devolution settlement has, at least in some areas, allowed greater freedom of action. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Governing Genomics: New Governance Tools for New Technologies?

Abstract This paper considers some of the ‘new tools of governance’ and how they might apply to the life science industries. Through a study of a number of UK government–industry ‘task forces’ and recent world events in drug regulation it identifies two opposing trends in play and suggests that there are actually limits to the all pervasive notion of governance. Instead, the multi-faceted policy and regulatory situation that applies to the life sciences is leading to the existence of a government–governance continuum where different aspects of genomics and life science technologies sit at different points; contrasting the role of the state in controlling and framing the context for the implementation of innovations in life sciences through the regulatory system with the more participative forms of policy-making that are being fostered both to promote national competitiveness and encourage public acceptance of these new technologies.

Using qualitative research methods in biomedical innovation: the case of cultured red blood cells for transfusion

BackgroundQualitative research has a key role to play in biomedical innovation projects. This article focuses on the appropriate use of robust social science methodologies (primarily focus group studies) for identifying the public’s willingness and preference for emerging medical technologies. Our study was part of the BloodPharma project (now known as the Novosang project) to deliver industrially generated red blood cells for transfusion. Previous work on blood substitutes shows that the public prefers donated human blood. However, no research has been conducted concerning attitudes to stem cell derived red blood cells.MethodQualitative research methods including interviews and focus groups provide the methodological context for this paper.ResultsFocus groups were used to elicit views from sub-sections of the UK population about the potential use of such cultured red blood cells. We reflect on the appropriateness of that methodology in the context of the BloodPharma project. Findings are in the form of lessons transferable to other interdisciplinary, science-led teams about what a social science dimension can bring; why qualitative research should be included; and how it can be used effectively.DiscussionQualitative data collection offers the strength of exploring ambivalence and investigating the reasons for views, but not necessarily their prevalence in wider society. The inherent value of a qualitative method, such as focus groups, therefore lies in its ability to uncover new information. This contrasts with a quantitative approach to simply ‘measuring’ public opinion on a topic about which participants may have little prior knowledge. We discuss a number of challenges including: appropriate roles for embedded social scientists and the intricacies of doing upstream engagement as well as some of the design issues and limitations associated with the focus group method.

Creating interdisciplinary education within monodisciplinary structures: the art of managing interstitiality

ABSTRACT The literature on interdisciplinary higher education is influenced by two overall trends: one looks at the institutional level of specially designed interdisciplinary institutions, while the other assesses individual interdisciplinary educational activities. Much less attention is given to the processes of creating interdisciplinary education initiatives within traditional monodisciplinary universities. In this study, we thus explore how interdisciplinary education and teaching emerge and develop within universities that have little or no established infrastructure to support interdisciplinarity. Using qualitative data from a multi-part case study, we examine the development of diverse interdisciplinary educational efforts within a traditional faculty-structured university in order to map the ways in which interdisciplinary educational elements have been created, supported, challenged or even strengthened by pre-existing monodisciplinary structures. Drawing on theories from economics, literature studies and sociology of education, we conclude that creating interdisciplinary education in such settings demands skills that we define as the ‘art of managing interstitiality’.