reflecting on Dr Duna Sabri’s seminar titled;
Researching Your Own Institution.
New Terms
- REF (Research Excellence Framework) is a research impact evaluation of British Higher Education institutions. Its aims are to provide accountability for public investment in research, establish “reputational yardsticks” and thereby to achieve an efficient allocation of resources.
In what ways does REF evaluate institutions? Does this framework put pressure on leaders in this institutions to tick boxes in order to receive resources? and can this lead to these said leaders (us) doing work that just scrapes the surface?
Dr Duna’s seminar explored the discourse regarding
- The idea of an “insider” and “outsider”
- Academic and Institutional Research
She begun by asking us our thoughts on whether it was good to conduct research within our own institutions insisting for a binary response- to which I initially said “no” though leaning towards the middle.
No – because I’m aware of how easy it is for us to rely on the “local”. How that may curtail the questions we may ask. How that may encourage reframing permutations of significant questions that have been weakened by institutional forces in the name of progress or policy.
By identifying the characteristics of institutional research that are different from academic research, we began to iron out how the familiarity of the institutions may affect our experience and research. She presented the characteristics of Academic and Institutional Research in relation to
- Policy
- Criteria for quality
- Emergence of research questions
- Methodology
- Conditions of fieldwork
- Dissemination and communication
Below are some of the results from the group discussions that outline the reasons for and against conducting research in my own institution.
| FOR | AGAINST |
| In order to critique. (Impetus for change) | Bias/Conflict of interest |
| In order to understand internal policy/practice. | Lack of diversity |
| In order to assess inequality or injustice. | Managing professional risks/vulnerability. |
| Accountability and leadership | |
tbc…