In a shifting environment for science and research, measuring and communicating the societal impact of research has never been more critical. These topics were at the forefront of AcademyHealth’s April Field in Focus webinar: Connecting Science and Society - Measuring and Communicating Research Impact offered practical tools to communicate research impact and make science more meaningful to funders and the broader community. This blog previews takeaways from this members-only event.
Communicating Research Impact
As an introduction to strategies for translating one’s research to inform societal impact, Jocelyn Bosley, Research Impact Coordinator at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, discussed how to effectively communicate to audiences in order to raise the visibility of the evidence. An essential first step is understanding the intended audience for your findings, especially their level of expertise with the subject matter. Often, “peer” audiences (who can speak the language of the field) and public audiences are positioned as a dichotomy, but they are better conceptualized along a continuum. Many researchers may be surprised to learn that several of the audiences they seek to engage fall more on the public side of this continuum, including, notably, government policymakers and proposal reviewers—audiences that researchers may perceive as closer to being peers. By developing skills to communicate research to public audiences, researchers can also hone their ability to communicate clearly and convincingly with peers and the public alike.
For audiences along this spectrum, presenting research via storytelling can play an important role in facilitating uptake. “Impact narratives” that demonstrate the real-world impact of one’s work can be a powerful strategy for communicating across a range of key audiences in a way that is relevant and meaningful. Research has shown that stories are more interesting, understandable, believable, and persuasive than non-narrative forms of communication. Dr. Bosley highlighted a 2016 study in which journal articles on climate science that took a more narrative approach were cited more often than their counterparts with less narrative tone. Stories can:
- Help “connect the dots” between levels of impact, illustrating how activities that seem immediate and narrow in scope can ultimately inform broad, societal impact, and
- Serve as meaning-making tools, helping researchers decide which details matter for key audience(s).
Measuring Research Impact
To illustrate actionable tips for measuring the real-world impact of research, Danielle DeCosta, director at AcademyHealth, shared lessons learned from AcademyHealth’s ongoing work to build the capacity of researchers to assess impact and enhance the visibility of their research. Over the years, this has included iterating impact assessment in collaboration with approximately 80 different research teams and learning from other organizations and private foundations in the impact monitoring space. These lessons include:
- For research to have real world impact, it’s critical that it is shared with the people who can act on that evidence to improve policy and practice.
- Alongside this imperative research communication, it is then important to assess and monitor the impact of that dissemination.
- Especially as government and other research funders grapple with challenging fiscal environments, including cuts to federal research funding and competing priorities, researchers must be well-equipped to demonstrate accountability for research investments.
Research Impact Assessment Initiative
AcademyHealth’s research impact assessment pilot project resulted in a spreadsheet tool that enabled researchers to indicate the level of awareness, influence, or impact generated by their funded research. This initial impact tracking approach centered on the reach of traditional research outputs, such as peer-reviewed publications, and discrete dissemination activities, such as meeting with policymakers. In later years, AcademyHealth developed a streamlined, cloud-based mechanism for impact monitoring and aggregation, increasing accessibility and understandability of the data for both research teams and their funder. This latest impact framework also includes tracking of contributions related to collaboration, community engagement, and other types of relationship-building that can facilitate policy and practice impact. The latest framework includes a greater focus on “impact stories,” reflecting Dr. Bosley’s emphasis on narrative as a valuable way to capture meaningful and compelling examples of the value of research.
How to Get Started on Your Impact Assessment Journey
To begin crafting one’s impact assessment approach, researchers can work through a sequence of prompts:
- What are you measuring (the impact of a recent study or a portfolio of research)?
- Who is the intended audience of your research?
- What are your goals in understanding the impact of your research? (E.g., demonstrate accountability to a funder, develop future grant applications, build institutional support, recruit junior scholars?)
- For whom are you assessing impact (e.g., institutional leadership, current funder)?
- Based on those responses, what outcomes will you monitor? Consider what is most important for sustaining your work—and resources available for monitoring. Identify a handful metrics to start, defining each metric, the source of the data (e.g., Google Alert, manual tracking), and key details to include in the record.
- Finally, determine an action plan to implement your impact assessment approach.
Additional Resources
Demonstrating the value of research is essential to championing the restoration and expansion of federal research funding. To efficiently and effectively illustrate the importance and real-world impact of evidence, researchers can hone their skills to communicate findings as well as the ultimate impact of their research. Resources available to build communication and impact assessment skills include:
- Impact Metrics Tracker (members-only): spreadsheet template for monitoring the impact of one’s own research;
- "Communicating for Impact" course: to improve communications skills;
- "Health Policy Orientation": help researchers understand how policy decisions are made at the federal level; and
- Situation Reports: keep the field up to date on policy changes.