Impact evaluation and evidence activities

  1. Do you need HREC (and other team) review for your impact evaluation or impact evidence collection activity?
  2. Do you need HREC review for your impact evaluation or impact evidence collection activity?
  3. Examples of evaluation and feedback collection for evidencing impact
  4. Document downloads
  5. Further information

Do you need HREC (and other team) review for your impact evaluation or impact evidence collection activity?

Wherever possible, impact evaluation and the collection of feedback should be integrated into the original research proposal and included in the original ethical review. This inclusion will ensure that the appropriate ethical approvals have been completed for all research and data collection, and avoid delays caused by the need for additional ethical review. 

Where impact evaluation and feedback collection were not included in the original project plan, this page will provide you with guidance, based around a set of questions, to establish whether ethics approval is required for this work. Where ethics approval is needed, or in the case of ethical issues arising as a result of the impact evaluation and feedback activity, an amendment to the original Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) application can be made. HREC commits to providing feedback within seven working days. 

Not only the HREC is involved in approving research and research-related activities. The following teams are important to note:

The Data Protection team

When collecting feedback and conducting evaluative research involving data collection from people, this work will be subject to UK GDPR/Data Protection Act (2018) and it is essential to provide participants with the relevant information on how The Open University (OU) use and store their personal data. The recommended starting point is to complete and submit to the Data Protection Team a Data Protection Impact Assessment (internal link only). Broader advice can be found on the OU's Information Rights SharePoint site (internal link only). For example, it is important to note that any audio recordings of discussions generate identifiable data and fall under the UK GDPR/Data Protection Act (2018). To respect these rights, researchers must gain explicit consent from participants, which includes sharing a privacy notice [add link to your impact-specific notice] making clear the participants’ rights, and explain what will happen to their data. The recordings must be kept secure, confidential, and be transcribed/anonymised as soon as possible and the original recordings then destroyed.

The Information Security team

If you are planning to use tools and are not sure if they are covered as secure for use as a researcher at The Open University, please submit a request to this team.

The Library Research Support team

If you are collecting data for impact and evaluation as part of a research project which is considered to need HREC review, a research data management plan is mandatory. Information can be found about these on the OU's Library Research Support website. This should cover the gathering, storage and disposal of all data, using guidance from the library research support team. These plans are highly recommended, but not mandatory, for impact and evaluation activities which fall outside of HREC review. Research data management plans should be hosted on the Open Research Data Online (ORDO) website. 

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Do you need HREC review for your impact evaluation or impact evidence collection activity?

Question 1

Is your impact evaluation activity:

  • Systematic routine data collection such as an audit or Quality Assurance?
  • Market research?
  • Already included in a HREC application for a research project that received a favourable outcome?

YES: HREC review is not needed.

NO: Go to Question 2.

Question 2

 Does your impact evaluation activity involve:

  • Collecting personally identifiable data, other than name, personal identifier, or other publicly available information?
  • Collecting sensitive or confidential data?
  • Collecting data on sensitive topics or involving subjects likely to cause distress?
  • Participation and/or data collection from vulnerable or dependent groups (including where potential power dynamics may impact equal participation or the ability to volunteer)?

YES: HREC review is needed.

NO: Please refer to Question 3.

Question 3

Is your Impact evaluation activity one of the following:

  • Voluntary testimonials with informed consent to be published and used for the Research Excellence Framework (REF), future bids or collaborations (please see guidance on providing a testimonial for impact corroboration (internal link only))?
  • Interviews with informed consent to be published used for REF, future bids or collaborations. If these are audio or video recorded then a data protection review is required?
  • A survey as a single point feedback form, anonymised with consent to use results (link to template consent form)?

YES: HREC review is not needed.

NO: Your activity may require HREC review. Please refer to the examples below and contact your Unit of Assessment (UOA) lead or Impact manager for further advice.

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Examples of evaluation and feedback collection for evidencing impact

The examples below represent impact evaluation and feedback collection activities that were not included in the original project plan and provide guidance on where HREC review is or isn’t likely to be required for this work.

Examples of activities that do require HREC review

A research and knowledge exchange team have developed a handbook of activities that could be used by teachers in schools to improve the learning experience and would like to pilot these activities in schools. The intention is to invite schools to use the handbook and then survey teachers and students (under 18s) on the effectiveness and experience of the activities in order to improve these further. Student details would not be collected, and any feedback provided by teachers would be anonymised before sharing or publication.

HREC review is needed. This intervention is framed as research-related and involves children and young people, and teachers who would be known before anonymisation. Data protection team discussions are recommended to be had in parallel as an HREC favourable opinion will be contingent on that team’s approvals. A research data management plan will be needed.

Researchers conducted a research project working with a city-based community safety unit which aimed to develop an understanding of young people’s everyday experience of serious violence and current service interventions. As a result of this research a new, co-created service framework was launched which included improved training for community officers, recommendations for new service provision, and a report of current gaps in community capacity. Several months after this intervention, researchers now want to organise an evidence café to bring together staff from the community safety, as well as key stakeholders in related areas such as local councillors, members of the police force, and staff from local schools and youth groups. The purpose of this evidence café would be to evaluate whether the changes made by the community safety unit have had an impact beyond the original scope of the unit itself and to gain insight into further interventions that could be made.

HREC review is needed. There are questions here on recruitment and data gathering from the evidence café, especially as it concerns a sensitive topic with safeguarding elements. Additionally, consideration is needed for what is being offered/promised to participants in terms of acknowledgment of intellectual property as part of the co-creation and challenge of retaining confidentiality of data contributed to the research.

A research project looking at how parents could better support their child’s pain management resulted in the production of an animated video and a leaflet that were distributed via doctors’ surgeries and school events. Six months after the completion of this project, researchers would now like to circulate a survey to pain specialist teams across children’s hospitals and units across the UK to ascertain the impact of the use of the animation and leaflet in the managements of children’s pain. Researchers would like to include the job roles and institutions of the staff alongside their survey responses as evidence of impact to appear in their impact case study and contact details will be retained in case of contact for REF2029 purposes.

HREC review is needed. There is also a possibility that the activity would need to be shared with the Health Research Authority to see if it needs to go through their IRAS application system, which is linked to the HREC application if in NHS settings. Advice around this can be found on our Health and Social Care page.

Examples of activities that do not require HREC review

A researcher has been invited to give a talk on their engineering research at an external business event. Following the talk, the audience will be asked to complete an evaluation form to collect feedback on the talk. They will have the option to include their names and email addresses if they wish, but otherwise this evaluation form will be anonymous. 

Does not need HREC review. However, further Data Protection Team approval would be needed if a mailing list and further contact was planned.

A research team working with a local community group have organised a public exhibition. Visitors to the exhibition are asked to complete a survey that asks them questions about their opinions and knowledge on the theme of the exhibition and whether the exhibition has changed these. The survey is anonymous and no names would be collected.

Does not need HREC review. However, the Data Protection team may need a Data Protection Impact Assessment to check no personal data is being included and a research data management plan is recommended.

Examples of activities that might need HREC review

Following the launch of a new practice-based learning programme for occupational therapists, researchers want to carry out an evaluation on the impact of this work by conducting interviews with physiotherapists and occupational health professionals to assess whether their approach and practice styles have changed and whether relationships with patients or patient outcomes have improved. Interviews will be recorded, however the recordings will not be shared beyond the research team. The intention is that quotations from the interviews will be included in publications but will be anonymised. Contact details for the interviewees will be retained in case of contact for REF2029 purposes. Researchers will not be collecting data from or contacting patients.

HREC review is needed to discuss issues related to way the interviews will be conducted, for example in terms of how representation and scope are being considered, alongside data protection team approval for the collection of identifiable information.

A research team are running an online workshop for an external organisation on the topic of early pregnancy endings. During the online event, participants are encouraged to engage with questions, make comments, ask their own questions, and leave feedback via an online platform (e.g. Padlet, Mentimeter) – this is anonymous unless the participant chooses to include their name.

This could need HREC review depending on the partnership arrangements with the external organisation and the existing scope of the research project’s HREC applications regarding the research partnership and information security. 

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Document downloads

Whether or not your impact activity requires HREC review, you are still expected to follow ethical guidelines. HREC has developed information sheet and consent form templates to assist researchers in meeting these ethical standards.

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Further information

If you have further queries, please contact HREC or attend our regular drop-in sessions to support impact evidence collection activities. The drop-in sessions are hosted by HREC on the first Tuesday of each month at 14:00.

Join a drop-in session

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