Quantifying the utilization of research: The difficulties and two models to evaluate the utilization of research results

Abstract

Although there are several methods for determining the quality of scientific research, there is no satisfactory method known that can measure the utilization of it. Earlier proposed methods measure a particular kind of utilization, but are — in practice — a poor indication for the utilization on the whole, a concept for which a definition is hard to make. These methods do not comply with the construct validity. The main problem in this case is the great diversity of what we mean by use of results of scientific research, resulting in a lack of consensus on the criteria for assessing the utilization. Here, we propose and discuss two methods. To evaluate utilization in a broad sense the four-dimensional model describes the degree of utilization with three, mostly independent, aspects: the involvement of the user, the availability of a transferable research product, and the commercial benefits resulting from the research results. In the other method the utilization of the research results is described first, and subsequently the utilization is quantified by a jury, who group the different projects in five classes, based on a Guttman scale.