Quality and the research assessment exercise: just one aspect of performance?
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09684880110381283 |
| Date | 01 March 2001 |
| Published date | 01 March 2001 |
| Pages | 5-13 |
| Author | Ruth J. Boaden,Jan J. Cilliers |
| Subject Matter | Education |
Quality and the
research assessment
exercise: just one
aspect of performance?
Ruth J. Boaden and
Jan J. Cilliers
Introduction
The Research Assessment Exercise (RAE)
assesses the quality of research in universities
in the UK. It takes place every four to five
years and the next exercise will be held in
2001. Around £5 billion of research funds
will be distributed in response to the results of
the 2001 RAE. The main purpose of the RAE
is to enable the higher education funding
bodies to distribute public funds for research
selectively on the basis of quality. Institutions
conducting the ``best'' research receive a
larger proportion of the available grant so that
the infrastructure for the top level of research
in the UK is protected and developed.
The RAE provides quality ratings for
research across all disciplines. Panels use a
standard scale to award a rating for each
submission, which normally comes from a
subject group or department. Ratings range
from 1 to 5*, according to how much of the
work is judged to reach national or
international levels of excellence. Outcomes
are published and so provide public
information on the quality of research in
universities and colleges throughout the UK.
This can be helpful in guiding funding
decisions in industry and commerce, charities
and other organisations that sponsor research.
Furthermore, the RAE provides benchmarks
which can be used by institutions for
developing and managing their research
strategies.
An academic department generally
comprises a number of individuals who may
or may not be organised into specific research
or subject groups, although anecdotally most
appear to be so. The department submits the
combined income and output of these
individuals and/or groups to the RAE for a
rating. Therefore, although the RAE
considers departments as a whole, the
performance objectives of individuals and
their research/subject groups within a
department must correspond to the objectives
of the department as a whole. In particular,
the RAE determines, for each research/
subject group within a department, its
standing in the international research
community by virtue of the rating it receives.
While the RAE is clearly important to
individuals and research groups in academic
departments, the assessment does not
measure performance other than quality, and
the RAE has its own definition of what
The authors
Ruth J. Boaden is a Senior Lecturer at the Manchester
School of Management and Jan J. Cilliers is a Senior
Lecturer at the Department of Chemical Engineering, both
at UMIST, Manchester, UK.
Keywords
Assessment, Research, Quality, Performance measurement,
Innovation
Abstract
Investigates the ways in which the performance of
academic research can be measured. In particular, it
considers the role of quality as one aspect of
performance. Focuses specifically on the case of the
Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) carried out in all UK
universities and highlights the need for clearer definition
and measurement frameworks. Considers the extent to
which research can be considered as a product or a
service. The literature is reviewed and a performance
measurement framework for research is suggested, with a
set of quantitative performance measures. The extent to
which these measures include the RAE measures is then
discussed and it is shown that the RAE measures focus
primarily on one aspect of performance.
Recommendations are made concerning the utilisation of
a wider framework than that suggested by the RAE to
enable research performance to be assessed in overall
terms, improvements to be identified and benchmarking
carried out.
Electronic access
The research register for this journal is available at
http://www.mcbup.com/research_registers
5
Quality Assurance in Education
Volume 9 .Number 1 .2001 .pp. 5±13
#MCB University Press .ISSN 0968-4883
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