The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the principal funder of social science research in the UK, is interested in strengthening the use of research evidence in policy, the use by researchers (in both academic and non-academic environments) of datasets generated by ESRC funding, and links between academic research and the policy and practice community.
They asked the Third Sector Research Centre (TSRC) to conduct a scoping exercise for what they call a civil society “data navigator” modelled on similar initiatives in local government. TSRC has worked with the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) and the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) on this exercise.
There is a need for organisations and decision-makers to have access to, and to be able to use, high-quality evidence to demonstrate the effectiveness of the work they are doing.
Our work comprised three strands: a review of datasets and their availability; case study research involving interviews with individual organisations, including a review of exemplars of capacity-building activity and good practice in data use; and a survey of organisations to find out about their use of data.
Strand one: data sources and contextual issues
We have looked at the availability and utility of numerous datasets covering issues of relevance to voluntary sector users. This builds on NCVO’s Data Store initiative.
We have also drawn together information about a number of related projects and initiatives, to promote awareness of them, to help people in making links, and to avoid reinventing wheels. We have a background document on this and copies will be available on 25th September.
Strand two: capacity-building issues
In the course of the work we have identified barriers encountered by organisations in their efforts to use data and evidence, such as knowing about the availability of data, or concerns about skills in analysis and interpretation of data. We have interviewed organisations who are addressing this issue (e.g. university-community partnerships, or ESRC capacity-building initiatives) and also funders, to understand what initiatives they might take in response.
Strand three: sector survey and interviews
We carried out a small-scale survey which showed variations between organisations in terms of whether or not they used data and the purposes for which they relied on it. The survey data was supplemented by a series of interviews. A significant minority of organisations declared that they did not engage with data sources in the course of their work. Our findings give some insights into the kinds of data that voluntary organisations do use, the challenges they experience in accessing and analysing data, and their views on how the kind of guidance and support they would find useful.
Voluntary Sector Data Use and Needs event
On 25th September 2013 at the Royal Statistical Society in London we held an event to explore the findings and discuss a series of possible recommendations. These recommendations are discussed below. You can also download materials from the event:
Presentations:
- Dr Christina Rowley (ESRC) –ESRC Data Landscape [PPTX 1.3MB]
- John Mohan (TSRC) – context for the project [PPTX 110KB]
- Joe Heywood (NCVO) – results from the survey and interviews [PPTX 1MB]
Other material:
- Context for the project– similar reports and projects to consider [DOCX 80KB]
- Event agenda [PDF 208KB]
- Project outline [PDF 204KB]
- Breakout group notes [DOCX 23KB]
Potential recommendations
Our findings so far have drawn us to conclude there are three broad areas through which recommendations can be developed and potentially implemented. We explored these further during the breakout groups at the event.
Practical support – for instance training and guidance on data use and accessible storage of relevant data sets
Sector profile: Shaping the future agenda – for example through the Voluntary Sector having greater influence over the content and profile of social science research
Stakeholders and collaboration – this could be through identifying new opportunities to leverage co-funding for collaborative activity or be about building relationships between key stakeholders, unrelated to funding
Where next?
The project team is currently writing the final report from the project, which will draw together all the material and present some final recommendations. We will then make this report public here.
But we also aim to keep the conversations and activities going after the project. The best place to join in the conversations is over at Stats User Net which is run by the Royal Statistical Society. Just register for an account and go to the “Voluntary Sector Use of Statistics” community.