The brief
Wellcome was launching an ambitious programme to improve research culture. A critical element of this programme was to expand the evidence base around research culture and its impacts – generating a rigorous foundation of data from which to better understand the problem and target interventions. Wellcome therefore commissioned Shift to conduct in-depth qualitative and quantitative research into UK research culture. This work aimed to support an inclusive and wide-reaching communications campaign. The approach required a high level of rigour, given the audience.
The approach
- A first stage literature review provided an informed overview of the topic through interpreting available evidence of various kinds. This review included published academic sources alongside a range of grey material to provide an initial view of the research culture landscape.
- This was followed by 94 telephone interviews with a diverse range of researchers, lasting approximately 45 minutes each. A mixture of random and targeted sampling was used to recruit the respondents.
- Four co-creation workshops (over 2 hours each) were then conducted, with each group containing 9 members of the research community.
- A quantitative survey was developed, including up to 70 questions. Recruitment targeted special interest groups to promote robust representation. A final useable sample of 4267 researchers was then analysed.
The value
- The research process was highly collaborative, allowing Wellcome to feed into the design of later stages through regular and live insight into the findings. Shift developed a comprehensive report for each research phase, followed by an integrated public-facing final report.
- Presentations of results for each phase took place at the Wellcome offices, as well as a workshop to help shape final deliverables.
- The findings of the research received a high level of media attention, including from The Guardian, Times Higher Education, the Financial Times and WonkHE, as well as strong engagement from the research community on social media.
- Wellcome used the results to develop a series of town hall events across the UK to provide a space for the research community to come together and digest the report’s findings, reflect on what a better culture would look like, and share ideas for how parts of the system could change.
