A Guide for the Formative Evaluation of Research Projects is now electronically available in English and German

The Evaluation Network for Transdisciplinary Research has spent several years working on the question of how the quality of transdisciplinary research processes can be secured and evaluated. As the central result, the “Guide for the Formative Evaluation of Research Projects” was published in the German language at the end of 2005. The Guide is now also printed and electronically available in English.

In transdisciplinary research projects, experts from various fields and disciplines and from the realm of practice must work together to be able to treat the complex problematic of the research object. Conventional processes of evaluation and quality assurance that are adequate for disciplinary assessment cannot be directly applied to research possessing this diversity, which implies specific forms of collaboration, differentiation and integration, methods and theories. Evalunet has produced this guide to rectify this lack of criteria and methods of evaluation.

Under the auspices of the Institute for Social-Ecological Research (ISOE), researchers from five institutes of the research network ökoforum have analyzed six transdisciplinary projects, taking a broad spectrum of research content and project settings into consideration. All project assessments and also the identification of essential quality criteria were carried out in intensive analytical discourses with a total of about 80 experts. This work, supported by empirical, analytical discourse, has resulted in a criteria catalog for the evaluation and quality assurance of transdisciplinary research projects.

The guide contains detailed descriptions of quality criteria and also makes statements on methodological and processual questions. It serves primarily the purpose of the evaluation of transdisciplinary research projects, whereby this instrument is tailored to the aspect of learning from the process of evaluation (formative evaluation) and presupposes a discourse between the project participants and the evaluators (discursive evaluation). As an alternative to evaluation using the detailed criteria, a less extensive evaluation using a selection of criteria (basic criteria) is also possible. The quality criteria can also be used to conceive new transdisciplinary research projects. A special feature of the electronic version is that internal links in the document make it possible to switch comfortably from the basic to the detailed criteria and vice versa.

The Guide can be obtained through the Institute for Social-Ecological Research at http://downloads.isoe.de/literatur/evalunet_e.htm in an English-language electronic version, in a German-language electronic version at http://downloads.isoe.de/literatur/evalunet_d.htm for 8.00 Euros each, and in a printed version for 6.00 Euros (plus postage and handling for the printed version: https://www.shop.isoe.de or here, email: info@isoe.de; phone +49 69 707 69 19-0, Fax +49 69 707 69 19-11).

Bergmann, Matthias et al., 2005: Quality Criteria of Transdisciplinary Research. A Guide for the Formative Evaluation of Research Projects. ISOE-Studientexte, No 13 / English Version, Frankfurt am Main.

Bergmann, Matthias et al. (2005): Qualitätskriterien transdisziplinärer Forschung. Ein Leitfaden für die formative Evaluation von Forschungsprojekten. ISOE-Studientexte, Nr. 13, Frankfurt am Main

The research project Evalunet – Evaluation Network for Transdisciplinary Research is a joint project of the research network ökoforum under the auspices of the Institute for Social-Ecological Research (ISOE), in which the Öko-Institut e.V. – Institute for Applied Ecology, the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW), the KATALYSE Institute for Applied Environmental Research, and the Austrian Institute for Applied Ecology participate. The research project was supported by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) in the research program Social-Ecological Research.

Upon presentation of a copy of a press card or when ordering on the letterhead of an editorial board, representatives of the media will receive an electronic review copy free of charge. Order through: Institute for Social-Ecological Research (ISOE), Knowledge Communication & Public Relations, Michaela Kawall, Fax: +49 69 707 69 19-11, e-mail: kawall@isoe.de

You will find additional information on the research project Evalunet at http://www.isoe.de/english/projects/evalunet.htm, http://www.isoe.de/projekte/evalunet.htm

Project Management for Evalunet: Dr. Matthias Bergmann Institute for Social-Ecological Research (ISOE) Phone +49 30 890 01-142 email: bergmann@isoe.de

Press Contact:

Michaela Kawall Knowledge Communication & Public Relations
Institut for Social-Ecological Research (ISOE)
Hamburger Allee 45
60486 Frankfurt am Main
Phone +49 69 707 69-30
Fax +49 69 707 69 19-11
email: kawall@isoe.de

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