Qualitative Research Impact Beyond Academia
Speaker: Carol Smart
Event: Agenda Setting Workshop on Family, Regulation and Society, 15-16 March 2010, London.
This is an extract from a talk by Carol Smart to a gathering of academics and socio-legal researchers. The talk reflects on the impact of research - particularly qualitative research - beyond academia. Leaving aside the political connotations that the word "Impact" now has for academics working in British universities, Carol discusses the contribution that qualitative research can make to an understanding of the social world and suggests some ways of making this contribution heard. She makes five main points:
- We need to de-mystify the process of generating and analysing qualitative data. Qualitative research is good at generating meanings and interpretations, but we need to explain the process of how this is done to allow non-academic audiences to understand the process better.
- We need to think of the 'big picture' painted by social research. Quantitative studies are good at showing how their latest work builds on earlier findings. Qualitative researchers would benefit from learning from this approach to draw together combined knowledge and understanding.
- We need to find ways of making complex data usable. One of the acknowledged strengths of qualitative approaches to research is the richness of the data generated, yet it is necessary to simplify this complexity during analysis and dissemination of research. How do we do retain the richness of knowledge without drowning in the detail?
- We need to be better at telling stories about the social world. Working with our data and knowledge, we can tell stories that counteract other popular narratives in the media.
- We need to disseminate our research in order for it to have an impact. The format and the medium should suit the audience, so we should explore new ways of communicating. Qualitative research methodologies should be explained rather than apologised for, to highlight their distinctive strengths.
Listen to the audio (approx 12 minutes)
Notes and glossary
Carol mentions some people, publications, events and ideas which are references to other parts of her presentation, or discussions from earlier in the day. These are briefly explained below:
- The "BA report" is 'Social Science and Family Policies (link opens in new window)' produced by a working group of the British Academy and available from their website. A good report, referred to in this talk to show how work still needs to be done on explaining the strengths of qualitative approaches within the social science community.
- "1-3-25" refers to the preferred report format of government-commissioned social science reports: one page of key findings; three pages of executive summary; and 25 pages for the report.
- Professor Simon Duncan, from the University of Bradford, is mentioned twice, firstly for a lovely map scale analogy to explain why social research cannot reflect anything like the complexity of real life. Secondly, Carol mentions Simon's recent book Teenage Parenthood: What's the Problem? (edited by Simon Duncan, Rosalind Edwards and Claire Alexander) (link opens in new window) as an example of writing which uses social research to provide a compelling counter-narrative to popular stereotypes.
- "the 54%" is a reference to a press release from the Conservative party which claimed that "in the most deprived areas 54% [of women] are likely to fall pregnant before the age of 18" - it turned out that the figure should have been 5.4% but the decimal point had strayed. For more information, see The Guardian coverage or the same story from the Daily Mail.
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