Translation across borders: exploring the use, relevance and impact of academic research in the policy process

该项目的总体目标是通过探索将大学主导的研究转化为政府政策进程，加强互联社区(CC)方案的遗产。我们的目标是通过借鉴人文科学和解释性社会科学的见解和方法，挑战和扩大对研究的主导理解。人们普遍认为，当代社会问题的范围和复杂性都在增加，如果要制定适当的政策应对措施，就需要更好地了解这些问题。然而，一个长期存在的问题是，在理解这种复杂性方面，学术研究的相关性并不总是对政府的潜在“研究用户”来说是显而易见的。拟议研究的核心是观察CC项目在进入中央政府和地方政府政策进程时产生的研究成果的使用和转化情况。这一过程涉及白厅的学术研究人员、研究分析师和政策团队与实施政策倡议的当地实践者之间的互动。我们将提出三个研究问题：1：不同类型的CC研究成果如何进入政策领域？2：不同领域(学术、政府研究分析师等)明确倾向和习惯性地采用哪些沟通方式和知识类型。为什么？3：关于不同类型的发现和交流模式的价值，这些领域的特征是什么？这些假设对变化的敏感性有多大？这项研究将侧重于DCLG的CC政策审查的以下成果。这将使人们能够比较各种不同类型的交流，这些交流的理解和翻译将在2014/2015年间进行，因此可以“实时”跟踪。根据研究小组更广泛的经验，以及为审查而对CC项目进行的审查，其他CC成果将在适当时纳入学者和研究人员之间的“对话”。这项详细的解释性工作将通过对所有技术合作项目的调查，在更广泛的背景下进行，以确定整个方案的政策参与的程度和性质。这项研究将由一个学者团队和DCLG的分散化和大社会(DABS)部门的研究分析师共同完成。它的实施将涉及到与该司的政策团队和地方政府官员密切接触，以试行“Ourplace！”邻里预算方案(即政策审查的主要“用户”)。我们将：a)调查CC政策参与度：在线调查所有CC项目，随后进行五次访谈。b)观察：在12个月的现场工作期间(和/或其他机会出现时)，平均每月观察两次DABS会议，外加4个为期一周的DAB内嵌入参与者观察现场工作；在3个Ourplace中进行观察和访谈！权威。c)半结构化访谈：与政策评论学者、Dabs和Ourplace！官员们。D)启动讲习班：与更广泛的专家学者、政策制定者和实践者共同举办讲习班：三个讲习班，所有参与者将在讲习班中明确审查影响团队边界的假设和翻译过程。f)反思写作：我们的集体，对翻译过程的持续分析将通过研究团队和研究伙伴每月一页的反思进行总结和测试。结果将是：a)CC计划参与政策制定的调查；b)为学术研究人员(特别是从艺术和人文角度工作的人员)提供的关于联合制作和提高与政策制定者的影响力的指导；c)为政府官员提供的关于使用艺术和人文研究的指导；d)在选定的期刊上发表学术文章。

The overall aim of this project is to enhance the legacy of the Connected Communities (CC) programme through exploring the translation of university-led research into governmental policy processes. We aim to challenge and expand dominant understandings of research by drawing on insights and methods from the humanities and interpretive social science. Contemporary social problems are widely perceived as increasing in scope and complexity, and needing to be better understood if appropriate policy responses are to be developed. However, there is a longstanding problem that the relevance of academic research in understanding this complexity is not always obvious to potential 'research users' in government. The heart of the proposed research is to observe the use and translation of research outputs generated by CC projects as they move into central government and local government policy processes. This process involves the interaction of academic researchers, research analysts and policy teams in Whitehall and local practitioners who implement policy initiatives. We will pose three research questions:1: how are different kinds of CC research 'outputs' taken into policy arenas? 2: what modes of communication and types of knowledge are explicitly preferred and habitually adopted in different domains (academic, government research analyst etc.) and why?3: what assumptions about the value of different kinds of findings and modes of communication characterise the domains, and how susceptible to change are these? The research will focus on following outputs from the CC Policy Reviews for DCLG. This will allow comparison of a wide range of different kinds of communication whose uptake and translation will be taking place during 2014/2015 and so can be followed 'in real time'. Drawing on the research team's wider experience, and the review of CC projects carried out for the Reviews, other CC outputs will be introduced into the 'conversations' between academics and researchers as and when appropriate. This detailed, interpretive work will be put into a broader context through a survey of all CC projects to identify the extent and nature of policy engagement across the programme. The research will be co-produced by a team of academics and the research analysts of DCLG's Decentralisation and Big Society (DABS) division. Its execution will involve close engagement with the Division's policy team and local government officers in the pilots of the 'OurPlace!' neighbourhood budgeting programme (i.e. key 'users' of the Policy Reviews). We will:a) Survey CC policy engagement: on-line survey of all CC projects, followed up by five interviews.b) Observation: non-participant observation of DABS meetings averaging two per month over the 12 month fieldwork period (and/or others as opportunity arises) plus 4 periods, of one week, embedded participant observation fieldwork within DABS; obesravtion and interviewing in 3 OurPlace! authorities.c) Semi-structured interviews: with Policy Review academics, DABS and OurPlace! officials. d) Initiation workshop: with wider group of expert academics and policy makers and practitioners.e) Workshops: three workshops in which the assumptions affecting and processes of translation across team borders will be explicitly examined by all participants.f) Reflective writing: Our collective, continuous analysis of translation processes will be summarised and tested by monthly one-page reflections across the research team and research partners.The outputs will be:a) a survey of the CC programme's engagement with policy making b) guidance for academic researchers (especially those working from arts and humanities perspectives) on co-production and increasing impact with policy-makersc) guidance for government officials on using arts and humanities research d) academic articles in selected journals.