Assessment criteria and guidelines

Align with the OS Research priorities

In the 2010 / 11 funding year, proposals should address one or more of the following priorities.

Please note that the examples in bullet points are not mandatory research questions but are to give researchers an idea of the depth and breadth of the priority.

1. Apply or adapt internationally comparable frameworks that support statistical measurement, data analysis and analytical commentary of an important policy matter across the OSS, e.g. sustainability, human rights, well-being, income, and wealth. Research could include:

• investigating the impact of emerging statistical frameworks (eg post-financial crisis) in the New Zealand context
• linking framework selection and application to domain plans, where known and available.

2. Contribute to the understanding of social, environmental, or, economic change, including dynamics and transitions, through the development and application of quantitative techniques to Official Statistics data. Research could include:

• determinants of growth and productivity
• income / wealth distribution and equity
• economic impacts of globalisation
• the implications of the Kyoto Protocol.

3. Investigation and further research regarding the development of innovative methodological techniques. Research could include:

• developing appropriate techniques for using administrative data for population inference
• developing quantitative models to improve measures of detailed sub-national population estimates
• evaluating efficiency gains and data impacts from introducing new modes of data collection.

Research proposals addressing research outside the priorities will be considered if they are deemed to be genuinely innovative and will add to statistical capability

Improve and enhance the Official Statistics System (OSS)

Research proposals are required to:

align strategically with the OSS vision to build an informed society through official statistics

• have significant impact on the OSS
• demonstrate potential to widely disseminate results into the OSS (the panel will be interested in the dissemination methods and the target audiences).

To assess the significance of the proposal to the OSS, the panel will consider the following issues:

• the priority of the statistics (Tier 1 or another OSS output of proven importance)
• whether the (new) statistic meets the needs of the user
• the priority of the proposal in the relevant organisation (if more than one proposal is being considered from any organisation)
• the overall value of the intervention (nature of short- to long-term pay offs)
• the breadth of applicability of the research results (confined or spread across the OSS)
• the practical ability to implement research results.

Collaborative benefit

Applications must demonstrate:

• collaboration between a state sector agency and a university, or a private researcher (or another state sector agency)
• how knowledge gained during the project will be transferred into the OSS
• how a junior research member will be mentored.

Robust project methodology

The methodology will be assessed by the OS Research selection panel. Proposals must provide comprehensive detail of the project methods while using language panel members from all research disciplines can grasp. Proposals should include:

• the research review process (in most instances external peer review)
• an evaluation process with criteria (for research project outputs and research outcomes)
• clearly set-out steps for undertaking the research
• a well-defined context.

Cost effectiveness

A sound, transparent budget of moderate cost ($40–$100,000) will be considered. State sector salaries are donated in kind to OS Research. Costly and multi-year projects will be considered if they are sufficiently meritorious.