This discussion poses the question of whether the guidance community has anything to learn from other research disciplines. The challenges of trying to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of guidance are not unique. Other interventions such as medicine and social welfare, face similar difficulties in evaluating the effectiveness of practice

Participants explored whether comparisons were valid and could be used to develop more effective impact methodologies, or a better understanding of the issues involved.

Two areas of comparison were explored one related to the medical profession and one to research done by the Research Centre for Museums and Galleries.

Learning from other disciplines - the medical profession

This briefing defines impact analysis and evidence-based practice (EBP). It compares the use of randomised controlled trials (RCT) to measure the impact of interventions in the medical and guidance professions, highlighting the benefits and limitations of this approach in the different contexts. The conclusion is that the nature of guidance-related research lends itself to less scientific approaches. However, the methods adopted to measure impact at an organisational or national level may be more comparable

Learning from other disciplines - museums and art galleries

Measuring the outcomes and impact of learning in museums, archives and libraries

Bibliography