Report on Use of Social Research in Public Administration
The report “Understanding end-users of social research in Polish public administration” was drafted by Dr. hab. Karol Olejniczak and Dr hab. Dominika Wojtowicz, both engaged in designing effective public policy solutions on a daily basis. The report was commissioned by the National Science Centre as part of the Science and Society initiative supported by EEA and Norway Grants.
Research in the area of humanities and social sciences is particularly important against the backdrop of societal challenges, such as climate change, demographic shifts, economic inequality, and public health crisis, when hard data must be supported by insight into the attitudes, motivations, and values of various social groups offered by knowledge in humanities and social sciences.
The report shows how researchers specialising in humanities and social sciences may effectively transform their work into practice. The key is to understand public administration, its working rhythm, decision-making processes as well as political and information challenges faced by civil servants. “We would like to help them understand decision-makers and explain why, for example, they don’t always read lengthy books or comprehensive analyses,” says Karol Olejniczak.
The report is also addressed to the National Science Centre. “Evidence-based policy-making is a challenge across Europe, which is why we need to learn how to support the use of research findings in the public policy-making and evaluation processes,” says Barbara Świątkowska from the EEA and Norway Grants Team and Social Transformations and Resilience European Partnership Team.
Dr Malwina Gębalska, STR coordinator points out that for the NCN that cooperates with researchers on a daily basis, the report is “the first step to learn the decision-makers’ perspective which can let us better design our future efforts to support collaboration between the two communities, for example in international calls.”
Surveys and Interviews
15 representatives of public administration and 13 former prime ministers were interviewed. The team’s former research and literature review were also used. “We wanted to interview people across different levels of decision-making system, including principal investigators, high-level strategists and those bridging the gap between political priorities and public policy. We did not focus on ensuring a wide range of representatives but wanted to explore various perspectives,” says Karol Olejniczak.
Five factors determine the use of social research by public administration. “For knowledge to be useful and contribute to decision-making, one must understand the mechanisms behind it, although some things are beyond the researchers’ control. Firstly, one needs to understand the problem addressed by the public policy. Secondly, it is necessary to identify the decision-making environment and information needs of policy-makers, and thirdly, their communication preferences and ways to use knowledge,” says Karol Olejniczak.
Problems
The problems of public administration are hardly ever clear and simple as conflicting goals need to be navigated, access to data is limited, and decisions are often taken in uncertain circumstances. These are the so-called wicked problems that are hard to define and cannot be definitively solved, but require ongoing adaptation rather than one-time solutions. Therefore, instead of offering simple answers, researchers should promote the process of learning by supporting efforts to understand the challenges of life, understand stakeholder priorities, and explore potential courses of action.
Decision-Making Process – Stages
Decision-makers need all types of knowledge, depending on the stage of decision-making process. Research findings can help them notice the problem, understand the reasons behind it, compare possible solutions or support implementation and evaluation of policies. “Sometimes, decision-makers need immediate input right away to confirm or challenge their initial assessment, and sometimes they look for technical recommendations that are ready to be put into practice,” says Karol Olejniczak.
Target Audience
Research knowledge is used by people who have different tasks, experiences and types of work, including senior politicians, policy designers and implementers with different needs and expectations as regards the form and contents of information.
Communication
Some might find short summaries, diagrams, narratives and example-based content more appealing than detailed elaborations.
Dialogue and Trust
The authors point out that successful collaboration between science and public administration depends on the quality of research as well as trust and strong working relations. Public servants more likely use the reports and analyses prepared by persons and institutions they already know and have head positive experiences with. “Effective communication starts with a dialogue. If we want research findings to truly support policy-making, we need to know more not only about the contents but also the format, timing and target, and remember that trust and relations must come first, before knowledge can be shared,” says Karol Olejniczak.
Recommendations for research-funding agencies include the development of cooperation platforms, e.g. networks addressing specific challenges combined with enhanced communication skills of researchers: training courses addressing ways of talking about research and creating brief summaries and diagrams with data addressed to specific audience.