Evaluating Federal Research Programs Research and the Government Performance and Results Act (1999) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 1-12
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One is that it should be possible to measure research, including basic research, annually and provide quantitative measures of the useful outcomes of both basic and applied research. The other is that, given the long-range
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It also addresses coordination among federal research programs and human-resource issues. COSEPUP concludes that both basic research and applied research programs can be meaningfully evaluated on a regular basis.
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Since we cannot predict the ultimate practical outcomes of basic research, we must find ways to ensure that the basic research programs that the nation funds generate the kinds of knowledge that have given us great practical benefits in the past. To do that, we must find ways to measure the quality of our current research programs, their contributions to our world leadership in the relevant fields, and their relevance to agency goals and intended users.
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research arch basic research programs supported by the fecleral government can be evaluated meaningfully on a regular basis. Conclusion 2: Agencies must evaluate their research programs by using measurements that match the character of the research.
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Measuring both requires technical and scientific knowledge, but applied research entails some factors that basic research does not, such as ultimate usability, so the input of potential users is required. That leads to our next conclusion.
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Evaluations of fields and subfields is best done through ir~terr;atio~zal ber~cizmarking by a panel of experts who have sufficient stature and perspective to assess the interna tional standing of research. ~ or agencies whose missions include a specific responsibil ity for basic research such as the National Science Foundation in broad fields of science and engineering, the National Institutes of Health in fields related to health, or the Department of Energy in high-energy physics world leadership in a field can itself be an 6
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Conclusion 5: Mechanisms for coordinating research programs in multiple agencies whose fielcis or subject matters overlap are insufficient. It is common and valuable for agencies to approach similar fields of research from different perspectives.
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On the basis of those conclusions, COSEPUP offers the following recommendations: Recommencdation 1: Because both applied research anc! basic research can be evaluates]
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Because the evaluation of applied research is directly connected to practical outcomes, whereas the evaluation of basic research is in terms of quality, relevance, and leadership, which ultimately lead to practical outcomes, there might be a tendency to bias an agency's overall research program toward applied research at the expense of basic research. This should be avoided, and a proper balance should be maintained.
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A second form of expert review is relevance review, in which potential users and experts in other fields or disciplines related to an agency's mission or to the potential application of the research evaluate the relevance of research to the agency's mission. A third form of expert review is benchmarking, in which an international panel of experts compares the level of leadership of a research program relative to research being performed worldwide.
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As a first step, they should become familiar with agency strategic and performance plans, which are available on the agencies' web sites. The researchers who work in agency, university, and industrial laboratories are the people who perform and best under stand the research programs funded by the federal government.
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Given the diverse portfolio of research conducted by federal agencies and the urgency of addressing the question of how basic research can be evaluated in the context of GPRA, the level of detail and specificity needed in designing procedures and guidelines for implementation was beyond the scope of this report. The Government Performance and Results Act provides an opportunity for the research community to ensure the effective use of the nation's research resources in meeting national needs and to articulate to policy-makers and the public the rationale for and results of research.
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