Quality representations in the SSH in an evaluative context

1. Quality representations in the SSHin an evaluative context Workshop MSHB Rennes 2nd and 3rd of June 2014

2. Why a closed workshop? • Not a public event • Reproducing the ESF format for informed discussion • Not a debate about the need for evaluation • SHS is a given, but how and why is not. • A discussion about what we are doing and why • From government, agency and above all SSH researcher outlooks • Creating a network and forum for active researchers in the field

3. Quality? What is quality? • Oxford Dictionary of English • The standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind: the degree of excellence of something • In other words, no benchmarks > no quality, and no evaluation • Fixing the benchmarks with the stakeholders • SSH researchers ARE stakeholders • “from a university perspective, evaluation should reflect research reality and the needs and aspirations of those involved“ (LERU, 2012)

4. Constraints • Who is evaluating what and why • The local, regional and national contexts • The disciplinary context • Levels of evaluation • Individual • Research Unit • Department, School or Faculty • Institution • The word ‘evaluation’ • Interpretation, misinterpretation and unnecessary conflict

5. Why are we here? At the beginning…

6. Evolutions 1° EvalHUM: an ongoing initiative www.evalhum.eu 2° A COST proposal… still in process! 3° An ESF workshop proposal 4° QualiSHS: an « interMSH project »

7. QualiSHS: the sponsor Réseau des Maison des sciences de l’homme (1962: Fondation MSH, Fernand Braudel) Cooperation platforms dedicated to SSH research Initial objectives: • To overcome individualism in SSH research (stimulate interdisciplinarity and cooperation between institutions) • To improve access to tools and sources

8. QualiSHS: partners • Université de Bretagne Sud • Institut d’études politiques de Grenoble • ENS Lyon • U. Paris-Est Créteil • Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, Allemagne • Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Espagne • Eidgenössischte Technische Hochschule Zürich, Suisse • University of Sussex, Royaume Uni

9. QualiSHS: objectives 1° Delineate perceptions and concepts of quality of the SSH researchers. 2° Identify differences among disciplines, at the national and international level. 3° Understand the changes in the conceptualisation of quality, from a historical perspective. 4° Explore the relation between concepts of quality and evaluative methods and protocols.

10. QualiSHS: methodology Sources • Interviews with SSH researchers • Informal evaluation literature (book reviews) • Large scale survey about the conceptualisation of quality • Institutional reports Focus on 4 domains (Law, History, Literature studies, Economy) and research units from 2 regions: Bretagne and PACA

11. QualiSHS: methodology Methods and techniques from 4 disciplines: - sociology • history • corpus linguistics • literary studies.

12. QualiSHS: expected outcomes Better understanding of the epistemology of the SSH Identifying the major discrepancies between evaluation protocols and practices in the SSH research Draft recommendations for improving the evaluation methods: tools, databases, protocols and training of evaluators

13. Qualityrepresentations in the SSHin an evaluativecontext • Opening: • Professor Didier Houssin, Director AERES/HCERES • Evaluation protocols and agencies, and their concepts of quality • Qualitative and quantitative criteria and methods • Publishing practices in the SSH in an evaluative context • Representations of quality: a wide national, disciplinary and sociological variety