Issue |
Nat. Sci. Soc.
Volume 24, Number 4, October-December 2016
Dossier « Réaffectations du foncier : régulation étatique, investissements privés et initiatives citoyennes »
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Page(s) | 379 - 385 | |
Section | Vie de la recherche – Research news | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/nss/2016036 | |
Published online | 06 February 2017 |
L’évaluation de la recherche en question : pratiques, dérives et alternatives
Research evaluation called into question: practices, distortions and alternatives
1 Doctorante en environnement, Université libre de Bruxelles, Centre d’études du développement durable, Bruxelles, Belgique
2 Doctorant en philosophie, Université libre de Bruxelles, Centre de recherche en philosophie, Bruxelles, Belgique
Auteur correspondant : M. Lugen, marine.lugen@ulb.ac.be
L’évaluation produit des effets, désirés ou non, sur la recherche, ses orientations et ses résultats. Dans le cadre des séminaires Ilya Prigogine « Penser la science » à l’Université libre de Bruxelles, deux journées ont été consacrées à ce thème. La première a réalisé un état des lieux de la question, en étudiant les effets standardisants des indicateurs et des classements et en s’interrogeant sur le statut des chercheurs dans un contexte de compétition et sous-financement. La seconde journée a envisagé des propositions alternatives : valoriser les formes d’intelligence collective, adapter les indicateurs aux disciplines, repenser l’utilité et la responsabilité face aux résultats, récompenser la prise de risque, retourner à des démarches qualitatives… Loin de critiquer la notion d’évaluation per se, ces pistes appellent à des formes d’évaluation plus démocratiques, transparentes et contradictoires.
Abstract
The evaluation of research, driven by the development of computer tools and the desire to “objectify” researchers and research projects, produces effects, desired or undesired, on research, its directions and results. As part of the Ilya Prigogine Seminars “Penser la Science” at Université libre de Bruxelles, two days were devoted to this topic. The first day focused on assessing the situation by deconstructing the evaluation of research and related concepts. Participants discussed indicators, rankings and effects of standardization on individuals, research themes and institutions. Comments were made on the hegemony of certain disciplines, journals and Anglo-Saxon culture. The status of research actors and their working conditions in a highly competitive and underfunded context were also considered. The second day examined alternative proposals regarding the current situation. Several possibilities were discussed: enhancing forms of collective intelligence and various knowledge transfer mechanisms; adapting indicators to individual disciplines and proposing specific tools for interdisciplinarity; rethinking the usefulness of and accountability towards research results; rewarding risk-taking and originality; returning to qualitative rather than quantitative approaches… Far from criticizing the notion of evaluation per se, these proposals called for more democracy, transparency and contradictory forms of evaluation.
Mots clés : évaluation / recherche / indicateurs / universités / expertise
Key words: evaluation / research / indicators / universities / expertise
© NSS-Dialogues, EDP Sciences 2017
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