Social Care Research Impact

Analysing Data Phase

Once you have collected your data, focused impact activity can commence in earnest. Consider how you can involve your stakeholders in helping analyse what you have found, in sense-checking and translating it to apply to real-world settings.

Consider how to involve stakeholders in the analysis process, you could employ some as peer researchers (if you cost their time and expenses at proposal stage)
Share an initial summary of the data you have collected
Gather input from stakeholders and experts by experience
Share your initial analysis online and seek responses and reactions and ask your network for suggestions about how your findings could be useful or translated for practice or policy – this could form the basis of a So What? Summary.

Barriers

Ego! You are a professional researcher, therefore you have a key role to play in the research process, however for research in health and social care to be useful, we need to apply it to situations where we are unlikely to be experts, therefore collaboration helps.
Lack of time, especially with submission deadlines looming. As a rule of thumb whenever you engage stakeholders in your process it will take more time and effort.

Enablers

Listen to a full range of stakeholders, their input at this stage can make the difference between your work being very academically interesting, and being useful. With planning you can be both.

Useful Impact Methods to Integrate at this Stage

Useful Impact Management Methods to Integrate at this Stage

VMOST

Storyboarding

Stakeholder Mapping

RATWOE

Brainstorming

APESCTLE

This website arose out of activities from the Social Care Evidence in Practice project funded by the London School of Economics and Political Science’s Higher Education Innovation Fund 5. The website itself was created with funding from, and is supported by, the Personal Social Services Research Unit and the NIHR School for Social Care Research.