Tsey Komla, Onnis Leigh-Ann, Whiteside Mary, McCalman Janya, Williams Megan, Heyeres Marion, Lui Siu Man Carrie, Klieve Helen, Cadet-James Yvonne, Baird Leslie, Brown Catherine, Watkin Lui Felecia, Grainger Daniel, Gabriel Zona, Millgate Nigel, Cheniart Ben, Hunter Tahalani, Liu Hong-Bo, Yinghong Yang, Yan Li, Lovett Ray, Chong Alwin, Kinchin Irina
The Cairns Institute and College of Arts Society and Education, James Cook University, Cairns, Australia; The Cairns Institute, James Cook University, PO Box 6811, Cairns, QLD, 4870, Australia.
Indigenous Education and Research Centre and The Cairns Institute, James Cook University, Cairns, Australia.
Eval Program Plann. 2019 Apr;73:176-186. doi: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2019.01.004. Epub 2019 Jan 14.
Researchers worldwide are increasingly reporting the societal impact of their research as part of national research productivity assessments. However, the challenges they encounter in developing their impact case studies against specified government assessment criteria and how pitfalls can be mitigated are not reported. This paper examines the key steps taken to develop an Aboriginal Family Wellbeing (FWB) empowerment research impact case study in the context of an Australian Research Council (ARC) pilot research impact assessment exercise and the challenges involved in applying the ARC criteria. The requirement that researchers demonstrate how their institutions support them to conduct impactful research has the potential to create supportive environments for researchers to be more responsive to the needs of users outside academia. However, the 15-year reference period for the associated research underpinning the reported impact and the focus on researcher's current institutional affiliation constitute potential constraints to demonstrating the true impact of research. For researchers working with Indigenous people, relationships that build over long periods of time, irrespective of university affiliation, are critical to conducting impactful research. A more open-ended time-frame, with no institutional restrictions for the 'associated research' provides the best opportunity to demonstrate the true benefits of research not only for Indigenous people but for Australian society more broadly.
全球各地的研究人员越来越多地将其研究的社会影响作为国家研究生产力评估的一部分进行报告。然而，他们在根据特定的政府评估标准开展影响案例研究时遇到的挑战以及如何规避陷阱却鲜有报道。本文探讨了在澳大利亚研究理事会（ARC）的试点研究影响评估活动背景下，开展原住民家庭福祉（FWB）赋权研究影响案例研究的关键步骤，以及应用ARC标准所涉及的挑战。要求研究人员展示其所在机构如何支持他们开展有影响力的研究，这有可能为研究人员营造支持性环境，使其更能回应学术界以外用户的需求。然而，报告影响所依据的相关研究长达15年的参考期以及对研究人员当前机构隶属关系的关注，构成了展示研究真正影响的潜在限制。对于与原住民合作的研究人员而言，无论大学隶属关系如何，长期建立的关系对于开展有影响力的研究至关重要。一个更开放的时间框架，对“相关研究”没有机构限制，这为展示研究不仅对原住民而且对更广泛的澳大利亚社会所带来的真正益处提供了最佳机会。
