Communicating with Different Audiences (in the Social Sciences) – New Date

This is the new date for the event that was cancelled in November 2019.

As part of Sheffield Hallam University’s participation in the White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership, and in conjunction with the Sheffield Institute for Policy Studies, we are delighted to announce a new series of training seminars aiming to provide students with the skills required to move beyond successful PhD completion to building a career in the social sciences through post-doctoral positions, securing research funding and managing larger scale research projects.

These sessions will be open to all doctoral students and staff in the Social Sciences at SHU (ie sociology, politics, psychology, urban studies, education, social policy, health policy, criminology, human geography, business and organisations).

In the second event of the series, Prof Christina Beatty (CRESR) will deliver a seminar on Communicating with Different Audiences in Stoddart 7139, 2-4pm:

The Research Excellence Framework has increasingly put the impact agenda at the heart of funding applications and assessment criteria.  This recognises the need for research findings to reach beyond academia and have an ‘effect on, change or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life’ (Hefce, 2016).  Effective communication and engagement with a wide variety of audiences is therefore essential if the potential of research to make a difference is to be maximised.

However, often the dissemination of findings is only an afterthought at the end of a research project.  Delivering traditional research outputs to traditional audiences – such as weighty reports, academic journals or conference presentations – is frequently the main focus of any dissemination strategy.  Instead, engaging with potential end users of research findings should be embedded throughout the research process.  This can help shape research questions and methods, as well raise the profile of research findings, and broaden the application of knowledge created.

This session will consider different communication methods for engaging with a variety of audiences including policy makers, practitioners, politicians, the media and wider society.  The pros and cons of various methods will be examined including: working with end user groups and networks; utilising social media; using traditional media outlets to raise the profile of research; deploying alternative formats for final outputs such as infographics; utilising research portals; and developing on-going research engagement strategies.