Who do you work for? Establishing a better match between justifications of research and effective accountability to claimed beneficiaries

Abstract

Evidence based policy making relies on sound research. Yet while the policy making processes are themselves increasingly under scrutiny, little work has been done so far on the accountability of the research organisations that significantly inform and influence public policy. This paper explores the accountability of research organisations from all sectors triggered by their claims to work on behalf of particular groups of beneficiaries, and the challenges to operationalise these in a way that is meaningful to the people eventually affected by the policy implications of the research. It finishes by challenging those organisations that claim to work on behalf of very widely defined, hard-to-identify or inaccessible constituencies to be more rigorous and transparent about the way they propose to engage with these groups. The aim of this work is to help address accountability gaps that may harm the legitimacy of important research and the validity of its results, reducing the overall impact and effectiveness of a wide range of research organisations, including from civil society, in the public policy process.