Analytic Quality Glossary

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Citation reference: Harvey, L., 2004, Analytic Quality Glossary, Quality Research International, http://www.qualityresearchinternational.com/glossary/

This is a dynamic glossary and the author would welcome any e-mail suggestions for amendments or additions.

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Research Assessment Exercise (RAE)

core definition

The RAE is a process, in the UK and Hong Kong that assesses the quality of research to enable the higher education funding bodies to distribute public funds on the basis of research quality ratings.

explanatory context

In the UK, those institutions who conduct the best research receive a higher proportion of funding so that those institutions who conduct high-quality research are rewarded, protected and developed. The RAE is carried out every few years by the four UK funding bodies. The most recent RAE took place in 2001 and around £5 billion of research funds were distributed in response to it (HEFCE, 2003).

The RAE provides quality ratings for research across all disciplines using a standard scale ranging from 1 to 5 (although with sub categories there seven grades). Grades are determined by how much of the work is judged by a peer panel to reach national or international levels of excellence.

The outcomes of the RAE are published and as such provide public information about the quality of research in universities and colleges throughout the UK. It is useful for industry, commerce and the voluntary sector to guide their research funding decisions. The RAE also gives an indication of the relative quality and standing of UK academic research and provides benchmarks that are used by institutions in developing and managing their research strategies. However, the RAE tends to lead to concentration of research and, it is argued, a proliferation of research papers. (HERO, 2001)

In Hong Kong, the first Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), which was undertaken in January 1994, aimed to assess the research output performance of the UGC-funded institutions by cost centre and the results were used as the basis for allocating some of the research portion of the institutional recurrent grant for the triennium 1995-98. For this exercise, research was broadly defined to include, in addition to traditional academic research outputs, contract research, art objects, performances, designs and other creative works. Hong Kong (UGC, 2004)

New Zealand and Australia are also developing similar forms of research assessment.

analytical review

HEFCE (2003) define the RAE as:

Research Assessment Exercise (RAE): The process of assessing the quality of research for funding purposes. The RAE is carried out every few years by the four UK funding bodies. The most recent RAE took place in 2001.

The RAE2008 site states:

RAE 2008 is the sixth in a series of exercises conducted nationally to assess the quality of UK research and to inform the selective distribution of public funds for research by the four UK higher education funding bodies.

RAE 2008 will provide quality profiles for research across all disciplines. Submissions from institutions will be assessed by experts in some 70 units of assessment. The main body of the assessment will take place in 2007–08, with outcomes to be published by the funding bodies in December 2008.

The University of Leicester (2001), School of Archaeology & Ancient History states:

The RAE is a periodic examination of the research achievements and quality of university departments across the UK. The following is quoted from the central RAE 2001 website:

‘The main purpose of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) is to enable the higher education funding bodies to distribute public funds for research selectively on the basis of quality. Institutions conducting the best research receive a larger proportion of the available grant so that the infrastructure for the top level of research in the UK is protected and developed. The RAE assesses the quality of research in universities and colleges in the UK. It takes place every four to five years and the next exercise will be held in 2001. Around £5 billion of research funds will be distributed in response to the results of the 2001 RAE.

‘The RAE provides quality ratings for research across all disciplines. Panels use a standard scale to award a rating for each submission. Ratings range from 1 to 5* [the highest], according to how much of the work is judged to reach national or international levels of excellence. Higher education institutions (HEIs) which take part receive grants from one of the four higher education funding bodies in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.’

associated issues

related terms