Multidisciplinary Research Week 2013

World Water Day: Water Cooperation

‘Research-policy Linkages: Lessons from DFID’,

by Dr Yvan Biot Senior Scientist, Department for International Development (DFID).

Research-policy linkagesLessons from DFID

Yvan Biot – Senior Scientist Office of Chief Scientific Advisor

March 2013

Science-policy interactions on environmental issues

Three messages

• Science needs to be believable• Science needs to offer solutions• Policy makers need to use evidence

BELIEVABLE

SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF ENQUIRY

Source: Peter Head, The Ecological Sequestration Trust

It’s complicated …

Ask the locals!

Rao, K., et al:, 2011. Climate variability and change: farmer perceptions and intra-seasonal variability in rainfall associated risk in semi-arid Kenya

But are they always right ?

Maize yields

Rainfall

Priors, interests and biases …

Doucouliagos, H. and Paldam, M., 2009: The aid effectiveness literature: the sad results of 40 years of research

OFFER SOLUTIONS

WE ALREADY KNOW WE ARE DOOMED …

Find out what users want!

• The policy cycle–Formulation, delivery and accountability

• NERC: http://www.nerc.ac.uk/publications/corporate/policy.asp

– recognise the relevance of science to policy-makers;– identify available opportunities, routes and best practice–communicate science in an appropriate way

Example: likelihood of early rains in Africa

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/csrp/

What works, what doesn’t …

• Theory of change • Impact evaluations

• Randomised Control Trials• Systematic reviews

USE THE EVIDENCE

POLICY MAKERS MUST PLAY BALL …

Evidence in DFID’s Business Cases

• DFID’s BC cycle–What’s the problem–What are the options to solve it–Theory of change and logical framework–Management arrangements, VFM, M&E

• Quality assurance–Strong evidence about nature of the problem–Poor evidence about feasibility of proposed solution

Assessing the strength of the evidence

Principles of quality

Associated principles

Conceptual framing

Does the study acknowledge existing research?Does the study construct a conceptual framework?Does the study pose a research question?Does the study outline a hypothesis?

Openness and transparency

Does the study present or link to the raw data it analyses?Does the author recognise limitations/weaknesses in their work?

Appropriateness and rigour

Does the study identify a research design?Does the study identify a research method?Does the study demonstrate why the chosen design and method are good ways to explore the research question?

Validity Has the study demonstrated measurement validity?Is the study internally valid?Is the study externally valid?

Reliability Has the study demonstrated measurement reliability?Has the study demonstrated that its selected analytical technique is reliable?

Cogency Does the author ‘signpost’ the reader throughout?Are the conclusions clearly based on the study’s results?

… and of a body of evidence

• quality of the studies constituting the body of evidence –high, moderate, low;

• size of the body of evidence–Large, Medium, Small

• consistency of the findings–Consistent, Inconsistent

• context of the evidence–Global, Context Specific

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS …

AND LIMITATIONS …

Main messages

• Summary–Science needs to be believable

– Calibrate, validate, check for priors and biases…–Offer solutions

– Talk to policy makers– Help us find out what works, what doesn’t

–Policy makers need to use the evidence– And adjust designs to strengths and weaknesses

• Growing set of tools– Theories of change, impact evaluations, systematic reviews, …

• Examples of success– Climate change: IPCC

THANK YOU

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World Water Day: Water CooperationMultidisciplinary Research Week 2013