Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A funder uses bibliometric portfolio analysis to inform strategy but assesses individual applications by peer review.
- Is an instance
A panel publishes its rubric explaining how qualitative judgement integrates supplementary indicators.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
Resolving disagreement between peer reviewers by ranking on h-index.
- Not an instance
Reporting a single composite score that hides the qualitative weighting.
Editorial commentary
Responsible-assessment frameworks (DORA, Leiden Manifesto, Metric Tide, CoARA) converge on the position that no quantitative indicator can replace expert peer review for evaluating the quality of individual research or researchers, but indicators can usefully inform context and pattern-spotting at larger scales (e.g., portfolio analysis). Achieving an appropriate balance means: (1) being explicit about which questions are answered quantitatively versus qualitatively; (2) reporting numbers with uncertainty and context; (3) giving final weight to qualitative judgement in decisions about individuals; and (4) auditing the balance regularly.
References
- Hicks et al., Nature, 2015. Wilsdon et al., HEFCE, 2015. CoARA Agreement, 2022.
Also known as
Mixed-methods assessment · Balanced assessment
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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