Practice-based research: investigating research practices, outputs and impacts in Belgium-Flanders, Poland and Switzerland

Meta-scientific reflection and the practice of research management are shaped by the “basic vs. applied science” dichotomy. At the same time, there has been a growing interest in models of research that escape this traditional opposition. Our project examines practice-based research (PBR) – a form of scientific research embedded in professional practice and conducted by practitioners or teams composed of researchers and practitioners. PBR usually takes place in practice settings – hospitals, schools, companies, cultural institutions, etc. – and combines scientific knowledge production with solving real-world problems.

Despite the considerable potential of practice-based research to provide socially useful scientific knowledge, we still know very little about how this kind of research is conducted, in what form its results are published, and how it contributes to professional growth. Consequently, we do not know how to evaluate practice-based research and create conditions for its development. Our project aims to fill this gap by providing insights about research and publication practices, and the societal impact of practice-based research.

The project is based on the cooperation of researchers from three countries: Poland, Switzerland and Belgium-Flanders. The international cooperation will facilitate the use of different data sources and allow analysis of practice-based research from different perspectives. The research team will perform a comprehensive bibliometric and systematic analysis of publications and conduct about 120 interviews with researchers representing various disciplines. Using machine learning methods, we will analyse descriptions of the social impact of scientific research and identify different types of practice impact of science. In addition, we will design a framework for registering non-traditional research outputs (non-academic publications and non-written outputs).

The results of our project will be of particular interest to science of science scholars, higher education researchers and science policy experts. The project will not only serve to better understand scientific practices, but will provide new insights into both theory and practice of research evaluation and policy-making.