EMBEDDING IMPACT ANALYSIS:
THE CASE OF LAW
A project being undertaken with the support of the JISC
and the National Coordinating Centre for Public
Engagement.
The project is developing and piloting a new approach to
supporting the systematic tracing of research impact.
The project is being piloted in the Law School with
Professors Peter Edge and Lucy Vickers. Emily Brown is
the Project Manager . Ursula Kelly is an external
adviser on the project.
CHALLENGES
 There are many challenges to be faced in analysing the
impact of university research .
 University research can have many different impacts
over a long period of time.
 But it is difficult to pin down or trace all of these impacts
 Some of the key issues include:
 Time lags
 Attribution
 Identifying processes or ‘pathways’
OUR APPROACH
 Identify research outputs; identify research impacts
 Consider the ways in which the research undertaken can
have an impact. Impacts can be:
 Conceptual – e.g. contributing to public debate or understanding
 Instrumental – e.g. influencing the development of a policy, changing legislation
 Capacity Building – e.g. through building skills and learning infrastructure
 Consider the processes and channels through which
impact can be generated ( the ‘pathways’ )
 Identify particular impacts and consider the degree of
‘attribution’
REF 2014 IMPACT CATEGORIES
 Impacts on Creativity, Culture & Society
 Economic, Commercial, Organisational Impacts
 Impacts on the Environment
 Health & Welfare Impacts
 Impacts on Practitioners and Professional services
 Impacts on Public Policy, Law and Services
OUR APPROACH
 Creation of an ‘Impact Map’
 Using the ‘Impact Map’ as a framework for organising
data and information about research undertaken and its
impact
 Trace linkages between researcher and impact through
processes of ‘tracking forward’ from the researcher and
;’tracking back’ from observed impact
 Developing guidelines and a toolkit to support the
systematic tracking and recording of impact