Social Care Research Impact

Research Proposal Phase

At this stage you have considered your ideas broadly, refined them, involving key stakeholders throughout and so now the challenge is to design a piece of research, with a view to developing impact throughout.

Brainstorm the methods for your research. Revisit them answering the questions:

How are stakeholders involved in this process? Are people using services, practitioners and policy makers represented?
What difference will this make?

Include impact activity within your proposal so that your time is costed as part of the grant.

Barriers

Forgetting to consider impact at this stage means that often proposals end after analysing data.
A limited understanding of stakeholders can result in a ‘traditional’ research proposal that fails to consider impact for different groups (see Stakeholder Mapping).

Enablers

There is limited funding available for impact or knowledge exchange activity after research is completed, so plan for it at this stage.
Funders will fund impact if it is included in the initial proposal, brainstorm ideas and seek input from those working in knowledge transfer field early.
Consider the tools on this site when you are planning your next proposal application.
Create your own repository of impact activity costings, ask your university research support staff for help if required, so you can easily cost impact activities when you come to design the research proposal.

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.