Stream Leaders: Professor Gabriele Durrant , University of Southampton, and Ms. Debbie Collins, National Centre for Social Research
In light of the challenges and innovations in the survey data collection environment we need to better equip current (and future) researchers with the right skills and knowledge – across sectors and throughout the career journey. An integral part of the research programme is the upskilling of researchers and the transfer of knowledge created by the research, leading to improved survey practice. To maximise outcome and impacts, it will be important to connect researchers, to strengthen cross-sector collaborations, and to bridge structural barriers across sectors. This cross-cutting and interconnecting Training and Capacity Building (TCB) workstream aims to:
- develop a better understanding of the methodological skills that are needed across sectors and of the barriers and challenges in building survey methodology capacity in the UK, and to
- develop opportunities for research staff to enhance their methodological expertise and skills and to facilitate knowledge exchange and training opportunities, for both junior and senior researchers from academia and survey practice. This includes knowledge mobilisation, i.e. making opportunities and information useable and accessible through collaborative working.
Within the life of this grant, we propose activities that will lay firm foundations and be a catalyst for sustainable, longer-term TCB in the area. Activities and outputs will be co-created with researchers across sectors, including academia and survey practice. Our proposed TCB work can be broadly summarised within the following three focal areas:
A. Understanding capacity building needs and barriers
To enable the long-term transformations needed in survey research capacity in the UK, there is a need to further develop our understanding of the skills that survey researchers will need over the coming decade and to consider the range of actions that may be needed to ensure that survey researchers acquire these skills and that sufficient numbers enter, and remain in, the profession. We will scope these needs and potential actions through discussion with key stakeholders included in this collaboration. The scoping exercise will be discussed in the TCB forum (see below), which will throughout the life of the grant inform and discuss training and development opportunities. The scoping exercise will in parts be informed by work already undertaken by the ESRC National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM) to identify research methods training needs in the social sciences.
The output will be a short paper summarising identified needs and proposed actions, which would be shared with research strand teams and key stakeholders including professional bodies such as the Government Statistical Service (GSS), Government Social Research (GSR), Social Research Association (SRA), Market Research Association (MRA) and other relevant organisations.
B. Supporting early career research staff
We will develop and foster a range of opportunities for early career researchers (ECRs) employed under this grant to enhance their methodological expertise and skills and to facilitate knowledge transfer and training opportunities. Here we define ECRs in a broad sense, to include researchers with or without a PhD working in survey data collection organisations as well as post-doctoral research fellows (PDRFs) working in academia. In particular, we will support direct knowledge transfer through the ECRs working with more experienced staff on each research strand (‘novice to expert’ route). To foster broader development of skills and experience, we will ensure cross-strand exchange, transfer and training, for example through interactive cross-collaboration meetings and knowledge exchange events. We will directly support the career trajectory of the ECRs/PDRFs by giving them thorough support and immersion in the survey research world, and will require a strong commitment from employing institutions and supervisors. We will develop imaginative schemes and activities suited to each researcher and based on individual training needs assessment (TNA), but opportunities may include, for example: on the job training/in-depth supervision, taking part in knowledge exchange activities across the collaboration (‘learning from other projects’), allocation of an additional mentor from a different sector, active involvement in key conferences (e.g. ESRA), in particular jointly with senior members of staff who will guide the ECR at the event and will introduce them to other researchers, participation in our own ECR mini-conferences, and strong support to take part in knowledge exchange activities (see below). The aim is to provide junior researchers with a thoroughly positive experience of the survey methods world, developing a strong sense of identity and commitment that makes retention longer-term more likely.
C. Developing and facilitating knowledge exchange and sharing of good practice
We will facilitate knowledge exchange, sharing of the good practice identified under the grant and training opportunities for researchers at differing stages of the researchers’ careers, including senior members of staff, and across sectors, which will help them to develop their theoretical/pragmatic methodological skills. The specific activities will depend on the needs and potential ways forward identified under item A above, as well as the career stage and research topic area. Possibilities that we will explore, as part of the workstream, include: establishment of Methodological Special Interest Groups (MSIGs), that facilitate communities of practice or networks on particular topics (a successful example of a MSIG is the one on video-interviewing which was created within SDC-net project) and offer mutual support and exchange of researchers across sectors. The MSIGs will be closely linked to the SPF and may be set up as a series of subgroups, making good use of the proposed online platform. To aid knowledge mobilisation, ONS has already agreed to open up their internal MSIGs to external survey researchers. Furthermore, we will have cross-sector collaboration and dissemination workshops and expert discussion groups (online and in person), bringing researchers together from across the sectors to discuss innovations in survey data collection. The research strands will develop good practice guides and we will develop these into accessible online learning resources where possible. We will work with NCRM to integrate any training we may develop into NCRM’s broader social science training programme.
The research dissemination activities will contribute to knowledge exchange and we will share the learning, skills and good practice identified as widely as possible, including internationally. SDCMC researchers will have a commitment to act as advocates for the use of robust methodology in survey data collection, promoting good practice to a wide range of audiences. Wherever possible, we will invite researchers not funded under the collaboration to take part in our events and knowledge transfer activities to broaden the skills of the research community more generally. Particular emphasis will be given on how we can share knowledge across sectors, with different researchers bringing in different theoretical and practical expertise.
Mini-conferences for ECRs/PDRFs will be organised to support professional development. The ECRs/PDRFs will be expected to present their own work and to discuss the work of others and will receive feedback from senior colleagues as well as attending training sessions.
Mini-internships will be promoted to give PhD students and PDRFs experience of working with survey practitioners and to give practitioner ECRs experience of working in an academic setting. These will help to strengthen the relevant skills of PDRFs and ECRs.