Assessing the value of research for society

Many of the choices that have to be made in the research process today are stimulated or frustrated by the contingencies in the societal context, yet it remains unclear as to how precisely to make those choices. The issue of how to assess research in that context is even more ambiguous. This paper reports on a study commissioned by the government of the Netherlands to find a more comprehensive form of research evaluation, in which the dynamic interaction between research and society is represented. It criticizes traditional approaches of evaluation, and presents a framework in which different indicators are integrated that refer to research output, societal demand and mediated interactions.