Re Dom Macdonald's email- I was Head of Public Engagement at the Science & Facilities Council STFC in the UK for some years. We did not have a "10% rule", but that's probably not far off the mark as a measure of what is often needed (say 1-10%). Our approach was summarised briefly as (extract from STFC PE Strategic Plan 2013-16, don't know if still valid):
"QUALITY: DOING ENGAGEMENT WELL - AND ARTICULATING THE IMPACT
Our aspiration is that all PE should be done well, and so formative and summative evaluation are both important. STFC policy is that all PE work must be evaluated, with the effort commensurate with the scale of the project. Working with RCUK and the NCCPE, we will supply evaluation guidelines (and in some cases, mentors) for fund-holders. Evaluation of funded projects will be based on assessment of impact, quality, reach and value for money, together with testing achievement of the project’s specific objectives. Evaluation of the overall programme and its impact will be enhanced, including better collection of metric data on diversity of audience, together with case studies, and the programme will be reviewed annually."
As funders we not only wanted to get a realistic idea of quality, reach, feedback and impact of PE projects, but we also wanted to get practitioners thinking this way and moving toward good practice, in a way commensurate with their resources and the project size. In particular, in science communications and engagement with research, one gets quite a few 'top-down' approaches from keen researchers; introducing them to more customer-focused ideas is useful. Also, formative and ongoing evaluation usually needs to be done by the project team themselves - a contract to a third party for final summative evaluation is only part of the story.
I agree that the sum to evaluate Hypatia is crazily low, though this may or may not be the delivery team's fault.
Best wishes
Robin
Dr Robin Clegg MBE
Freelance - Strategy
(+44) (0)7841 347377
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