Evidence library

This paper aims to share the findings from the What Works Scotland programme of Collaborative Action Research (CAR). CAR is a way of working that challenges traditional approaches to research and evidence. As a process of co-production, partnership and evidence-informed change, it exemplifies the transition to collaborative governance argued for by the Christie Commission (2011).The paper highlights the learning and insights that we have gained from applying CAR to multi-sector public service partnerships and, more generally, to processes of public service reform and collaborative governance in Scotland. It is based on work facilitated by What Works Scotland researchers Hayley Bennett, Richard Brunner, Claire Bynner and James Henderson in four community planning partnerships and forms part of a wider programme of research by What Works Scotland. What Works Scotland is a four-year (2014-2018) research collaboration between the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. The collaboration’s research agenda is to improve how local areas in Scotland use evidence to make decisions about public service reform (PSR). Four researchers, with support from the What Works Scotland directors and other members of the team, led the What Works Scotland Collaborative Action Research (CAR) programme. Between 2015 and 2017, the researchers supported groups of public service practitioners as they undertook group inquiries in four community planning partnerships (CPPs): Aberdeenshire, Fife, Glasgow, and West Dunbartonshire. These sites illustrate spatial diversity across Scotland – urban, rural, remote and levels of inequality. The practitioners in each CAR group came from diverse organisations and professions, and had differing levels of knowledge, skills and responsibilities. They worked with the researcher to achieve an evidence-informed approach to PSR in one area of their work. Key elements in the developing CAR programme included a series of national learning events (retreats) for CPP practitioners and the researchers, and a peer support group for the researchers. This was the first time that CAR has been attempted in complex public service partnerships. Therefore, this project was a trailblazer for methodological innovation and learning as well as providing insights into PSR in practice. For the researchers, CAR involved a challenging dual process of supporting the local practitioners in generating data; and, at the same time, collecting data for What Works Scotland’s wider analysis of CAR and its potential value to PSR. This paper considers our key findings for others who are commissioning or conducting CAR in similar contexts and for policy-makers and practitioners more generally. It is structured into four sections:• Section 1: CAR in community planning partnerships – drawing on theory, context, methods and experiences of actual practice • Section 2: Three key elements of CAR: collaboration & participation; research & inquiry; and action & change • Section 3: CAR, PSR and the wider context of collaborative governance and austerity • Section 4: Conclusion.