The use of indicators within a comprehensive impact assessment approach in three South African research programmes

Abstract

With an increased emphasis on the tangible demonstration of the socio-economic benefits of research the need arises for impact evaluation. Impact assessment is a form of evaluation that deals with the effects of research output on the target beneficiaries. This paper reports on the use of indicators within a comprehensive impact assessment approach applied to three case studies of the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) of South Africa. Three broad categories of impact assessment form part of a comprehensive approach, which is the direct outcome of research activities, institutional impact and the people level impact. Indicators are essential for measuring impacts on various levels. The choice of indicators should depend on the objectives of the project, which is usually linked to the broader social and development objectives of a country, and the level of evaluation. Two major groups of indicators can be defined within the comprehensive approach of impact assessment namely: impact indicators and performance indicators. Some problems related to indicators such as the availability of data, the validity of indicators and correction factors are demonstrated. The paper shows that whilst it is important to evaluate or “measure”, it is also important to use this impact information in management decisions for better allocation of scarce resources.