Research project High scientific quality is that which contributes to efficiently producing knowledge. What it constitutes in specific and concrete terms is not precisely defined, but it is continuously assessed by the scientific community itself through funding-, employment- and award-committees that control research funding, publication of research results, and selection for positions and awards. The quality of these assessments affect, therefore, the quality of the produced research.
Erik J. Olsson, Department of Philosophy, Lund University erik_j.olsson@fil.lu.se
The purpose of this project is to assess how reliable and valid assessments of scientific quality are, when trained academics read descriptions of research projects and rate them using our newly developed quality assessment instrument. The ratings are used to compute (1) reliability and validity, (2) predictive validity in relation to numbers of citations, (3) how many and which dimensions of quality are applied, and (4) the proportion of variability in overall ratings accounted for by the specific indicators. Preliminary results indicate high inter-rater reliability and good convergent validity.
