Research can make a difference_ Communicating and disseminating

							Research can make a difference!
  Workshop on communicating
  and disseminating research

     Facilitation - Chris Mitchell
      Manager, Research and
             Consultation,
             Fife Council
                             Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
      What do we want from the
            workshop?
•   Share experience?
•   What works? Why?
•   What doesn’t work? Why?
•   Some new ideas?
•   What else?
•   Dissemination planning?
•   Some nuggets to take away?


                                 Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
Who needs to know and how?
• Client – brief, project management, report,
  seminar, findings….
• Related services – research programme,
  consultation diary, seminar, findings…
• Elected members – findings, research bulletin
• Senior managers, partners – targeted mail
  shot, findings, management team briefing
• Other authorities, SG, academics – bulletins,
  networks, conferences, journals, fairs ……
• Research participants – FEEDBACK! –
  mailing, posters, their networks, newsletters
• Who else……?

                                  Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
When is the right time to think
about dissemination?
• Writing the report for Committee or Board?
• Doing the first draft report?
• Writing the brief?
  – Who needs to know?
  – What will they do with it?
  – What is the best format for them to get the
    evidence messages?
  – When will it have most influence?

                                  Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
Some questions from a standard
research brief template
• Outcomes - How will the research be used to make
  a difference and what implications has this for
  output?
• Output – better knowledge and understanding of
  what? (see aim) How is it to be presented and
  disseminated? Format might include report,
  presentation, seminar, poster, stories, training
  events, web pages, data (software requirements) etc.
  Normally, a Know Fife Findings summary will be part
  of the output.


                                       Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
Learning from experience!
Scottish Borders Council is in hot water over its
  Transforming Children’s Services
  consultation. The BBC Scotland website
  recently carried a story headlined
  Consultation labelled confusing, and cited the
  Plain English Campaign as being very
  unhappy at the gargantuan, online paper –
  complete with 150 Appendices (yes 150!) and
  a 44 page summary. Appendix 37 is a
  Glossary of Acronyms ...and contains approx
  159 items!


                                  Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
   Some ‘Hows’ of dissemination
• Findings




                        Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
     Get the Findings out there!
Joseph Rowntree Foundation model
• Short and simple
• Archive of knowledge
• Web based with links to related research for each
  bullet of findings
• Mailed to registered interests when fresh
• Tried and tested
• Format copied by Scottish Government, KnowFife
  and many others because it works



                                       Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
      Get the Findings out there
Joseph Rowntree Foundation model
• page 1 - the hook for the busy reader
   – One paragraph on what it’s about
   – bullet points of main findings and what’s new
• pages 2 to 3
   – evidence captured and analysis
   – implications/recs. for policy/practice
• page 4
   – background, method, who by, contact information
     and access to main report

• Make a requirement of brief
                                      Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
Some more ‘Hows’ of dissemination
• Findings
• Web portal




                        Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
 Some more ‘Hows’ of dissemination
• Findings
• Web portal
• Build network of interests
  – Fife Policy and Research Network, Fife Health
    Intelligence Group
  – IDeA Communities of Practice
• Serve network with quality alerts and bulletins
  – Fife Research e-bulletin




                                      Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
    Some more ‘Hows’ of dissemination
•   Findings
•   Web portal
•   Build network of interests
•   Serve network with quality alerts and bulletins
•    Briefings on implications of others’ research
•   Research database, search engines in portal
•   send report or abstract to IDOX and libraries
•   Contextual Targeting
•   Personal contact

                                     Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
              target
              timely
              mailing at
              execs
                                   Snowball
                                   to middle
                Fit form to        managers
Research       function and
Study            person
                              Front line staff service
                              briefings/workshops for
                              practice change

           Feedback & deliver to users
           Monitor and review
                                      Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
    Some more ‘Hows’ of dissemination
•   Findings
•   Web portal
•   Build network of interests
•   Serve with quality alerts and bulletins – IDeA
•   Briefings on implications of others’ research
•   Research database, search engines, IDOX?
•   Contextual Targeting
•   Personal contact. Informal and personal briefing
•   Knowledge champion at high table
    – “where is the evidence?”
• Foster knowledge or evidence aware cultures
• Graphic presentation, GIS, cartoons, surprises
                                      Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
    Some more ‘Hows’ of dissemination
•   Findings
•   Web portal
•   Build network of interests
•   Serve with quality alerts and bulletins – IDeA
•   Briefings on implications of others’ research
•   Research database, search engines ,IDOX
•   Contextual Targeting
•   Personal contact. Informal and personal
    briefing
•   Knowledge champion: “where is the evidence?”
•   Foster knowledge or evidence aware cultures
•   Graphic presentation, GIS, cartoons, surprises
•   Stories, scenarios, role play
•   Research Fair
                                   Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
     Planning the dissemination
             Matrix tool

• Used in Fife Migrant Workers Research
  and Scottish Index of Multiple
  Deprivation 2009
• Blank matrix – fill in some blanks
  – a good example,
  – or some research or evaluation you plan
• Does it work for you?

                                 Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
 Generic features of effective practices to
        increase research impact
               (Using Evidence: Nutley et al)
 Research must be translated - tailoring findings to
  specific policy and practice contexts
 Enthusiasm- of key individuals - personal contact is
  most effective
 Contextual analysis - understanding and targeting
  specific barriers to, and enablers of, change
 Credibility - strong evidence from trusted source,
  inc. endorsement from opinion leaders
 Leadership - within research impact settings
 Support - ongoing financial, technical & emotional
  support
 Integration - of new activities with existing systems
  and activities
                                                Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future
Interactive models of research use
Moving away from ideas of ‘packaging’
 knowledge and enabling knowledge
 transfer
 – recognising instead:

• Interaction with other types of knowledge
  (tacit; experiential);
• The importance of context;
• Multi-voiced iterative dialogue;
• ‘Use’ as a process not an event
                                  Fife Partnership…Strengthening Fife’s Future