Chair's comment
Forging and implementing high-level strategies is an art in any operating context, not least where the imperative is to manage for better social outcomes, says SPEaR’s chair, Professor Richard Bedford.
As the demands increase for both evidence-informed policy advice and the evaluation of interventions to aid good decision making, the challenges of delivering coherent and timely research and evaluation continue to grow.
Being strategic about future investments is therefore of critical importance if we are to maximise on opportunities for the social sciences to contribute to the knowledge base, and to the policy settings and frameworks that will foster better social outcomes.
To this end, forming a strategic relationship between SPEaR, with its focus on government sector progress, and BRCSS, with its focus on building research capability in the social sciences in the university sector, is good for the overall development of the social sciences in New Zealand.
Recently I have taken over the role of Director of BRCSS and I see several key areas where there is real potential for SPEaR and BRCSS to work together.
Both SPEaR and BRCSS operate as networks linking major components of the social research and evaluation sector. They both have mandates to leverage opportunities to make innovative contributions to the knowledge base, enhance the quality of research practice, and utilise new technologies for improved connectivity. SPEaR has been very effective in ‘joining up’ social research and evaluation in government departments in ways that ensure there are significant developments in capability and good practice.
BRCSS is in the final stages of building the first major cross-institution advanced video conferencing facility (BRCSS Grid) using access grid technology, to take advantage of the advanced network and second-generation internet for research collaboration, data sharing, and teaching.
Both SPEaR and BRCSS have some resources to support research by postgraduate students and emerging researchers; both are involved in examining data saving and sharing opportunities; both are working actively to strengthen the research–policy nexus in ways that preserve the intellectual integrity of the practice of research while serving the interests of the policy community.
Recommendations by the Social Science Reference Group in its report “Coming of Age: Social Science Research and its Contribution to Wealth and Wellbeing in New Zealand, 2006–2016” highlight ways we can grow the value from these coordination and capacity-building investments in the government and university sectors.
At the end of the day we want to see a vibrant and relevant social science sector delivering high quality research and adding value into the policy arena in the interests of social development in New Zealand and elsewhere.
As I discovered recently while participating in a roundtable (sponsored by the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the International Metropolis Conference in Toronto), we have gone further in New Zealand than in most countries in establishing a framework within which it should be possible to mediate the tension emerging between policy-relevant research and scholarly advances in knowledge that have no policy relevance.
SPEaR and BRCSS are networking initiatives that have great potential for contributing to finding the best path to policy relevance and intellectual freedom in a society that increasingly expects to see tangible returns for the investment of public funds in social research. Let’s make sure we make the most of our opportunities.
Any comments or feedback, email info@spear.govt.nz
