PS9000 Engaging with Society: Stakeholders, Outreach and Impact Course description

This course will give candidates an advanced introduction to the changing role that social science is playing in society, and which societal stakeholders are playing in the social sciences. It covers issues of new expectations and requirements of research to engage with society, and how they may reflect more general societal transformations. These expectations and requirements concern achieving societal impact, bringing onboard various groups of stakeholders and end-users, disseminating research findings to a wide range of and increasingly diverse set of audiences, reaching out to vulnerable groups, and of incorporating non-researchers into the processes of planning, doing and publishing social science research.

Theoretically, the course considers the transition from ‘Mode 1’ to ‘Mode 2’ of knowledge production, of the knowledge economy, and the theoretical underpinnings of ‘evidence-based research’, including the realist approach (Pawson/Tilley). Specific topics will vary between courses according the needs of the PhD students.

The course is a requirement for all candidates in the PhD programme in Social Sciences, OsloMet - Oslo Metropolitan University. The candidates are encouraged to complete the course early in their studies.

No prerequisites.

Knowledge

The candidate:

• Has advanced knowledge about major trends in social science’s relations to the wider society
• Has extensive knowledge about specific topics that have come to dominate the academic field such as the importance of outreach, user-involvement, stakeholders in research and knowledge translation, knowledge hierarchies, citizen science, science skepticism/politization of science, open science, and responsible research and innovation
• Has advanced knowledge about theories explaining current trends in the relations between research, universities and society

Skills

The candidate:

• Can discuss his or her own research in terms of possible societal impact and is able to set up a concrete plan outlining the pathway to impact
• Can discuss his or her project in terms of strategies to involve ordinary citizens in fieldwork or end-users in the design, implementation and dissemination of the research

General competence

The candidate:

• Will be able to critically reflect upon the drivers of recent trends that increasingly obliterate the borders between the field of science and surrounding fields of politics and practice, assessing the advantages and pitfalls of these developments
• Will have improved understanding of their own role as researchers vis-à-vis various stakeholder groups such as agencies commissioning research, professional associations, user associations and the general public

Teaching will take the form of lectures and seminar discussions. Concrete examples, preferably from candidates’ own PhD projects, will be used as a basis for discussing different perspectives and aspects of the course’s content.

The course is organized as a three-day seminar. Active participation is necessary to adequately understand the course material and themes. Candidates will work with practical cases of how their own doctoral research relates to course themes, for example how their research outcomes may lead to impact (i.e. contribute to change in the field), how one may involve users or stakeholders in research activities or how to adopt an ‘open science’ approach. Participation is therefore mandatory, and candidates are expected to attend all days of teaching and required to attend at least 80 percent of teaching days. In special cases of documented illness, the course leader may accept exceptions to this requirement. In these cases, lack of participation can be substituted with alternative arrangements such as active reading of the relevant syllabus literature.

Confirmed participation in the course and accepted final essay gives 3 ECTS credits. The final essay should address one of the topics of the course and relate it the PhD student’s own dissertation. The scope of the essay shall be approximately 5-8 pages (Arial / Calibri font size 12, spacing 1,5) and the essay shall be delivered within two months after the course.

Essays must be submitted within the given deadline, without extensions. Exceptions are made only in the case of illness (documented by sick leave). In these cases, an extension equaling the length of the sick leave can be granted (upon application).

All examination support material is allowed as long as source reference and quotation technique requirements are applied.

Assessment is pass/ fail. If an essay is graded fail, the candidate has one opportunity to resubmit a revised essay within a given time period.

The final essay is assessed by the course lecturer. The assessment of the essay is based on the learning outcomes for the course.