loughborough university research conference 2012 - lois kerr
TRANSCRIPT
The importance of user engagement within research and its implementation within the Working Late project
Introduction
User engagement has become a necessary component of contemporary research, references to user engagement are now frequently seen
in research funding requirements, e.g. Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) currently expects applications to specify plans for
involving users in the research process (Rickinson, Sebba & Edwards 2011). The Working Late project has a strong focus on user
engagement, and by implementing user input at key stages of the research, the benefits of user engagement have been easily identifiable.
Implementing User Engagement
To ensure a range of user input each user group is involved in
the project in the following different ways:
Panel meetings where the project is presented and
feedback gained using discussions, focus groups and
workshops
Bi-annual newsletter to keep them up to date with progress
Website, where newsletters and project information is
available
Some individual user’s have been involved on a more practical
level as contacts to aid in participant recruitment and in
dissemination of our research.
Ms Lois Kerr
www.workinglate.org
Identifying Users
The Working Late project has identified three user groups who
contribute to the research via discussion panels:
Older Worker Panel – includes workers over 50, recently
retired and members of an older persons reference group
Organisational Expert Panel – includes occupational health
experts, organisational representatives and trade union
representatives
Expert Advisory Panel – includes employment experts and
representatives from relevant agencies
Workinglate Project Background
Working Late is a four year collaborative research project
addressing practice and policy issues associated with later life
working, the project is funded by the New Dynamics of Ageing
(NDA) Programme. Working Late project aims to develop and
evaluate interventions and design solutions to promote health
and quality of working life.
The project comprises four interconnected work packages, which
are underpinned by a high level of user involvement and utilise a
model of continuous (iterative) active engagement with a range of
user groups to ensure that all stages of the research are informed
by the views, experience and expertise of stakeholders.
Importance of User Input
User Engagement has been found to be beneficial to research in
several areas including; quality, impact and user satisfaction
(Hwang & Thorn 1999).
The Working Late project has received many benefits from
involving users within the research process:
The added perspective and expertise of our user groups
New contacts, groups and organisational links to be used in
future projects
Help with recruitment and dissemination
Increased impact of research findings
References
Hwang, M, I., & Thorn, R, G. (1999) The effect of user engagement on system success: A meta-analytical
integration of research findings. Information and Management, 35, 4, pp 229-236.
Rickinson, M., Sabba, J. & Edwards, A. (2011) Improving Research through User Engagement. Routledge,
Oxon.