Valuing Interdisciplinary Collaborative Research: Beyond Impact

Universities are increasingly being asked to take an active role as research collaborators with citizens, public bodies, and community organizations beyond their walls. Such collaborations, advocates argue, will provide a host of benefits, from making universities more accountable to improving and developing real world activity. In short, these collaborations will help change the world for the better. This is the theory, and this theory is driving thousands of new research collaborations and partnerships. But as this book reveals, the reality is that these thousands of research collaborators, as well as the funders and institutions that are supporting them, are struggling to articulate the value of their work.

Valuing Interdisciplinary Collaborative Research addresses this key challenge head-on. With a particular focus on research in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, contributors draw on nine contemporary case studies from fields as diverse as cultural anthropology and international development to explore the tensions that surround the evaluation and assessment of research both generally and in the context of more recent discussions of collaborative research. Accessibly written and featuring a glossary of key terms, traditions, concepts, and resources, this book moves beyond tired, polarized debates about the relative power of scholars and participants to judge the true value of collaborative research and helps develop the methods needed for all to reflect upon, enrich, and challenge their assumptions about the quality of this work.