A review of South Africa’s National Research Foundation’s ratings methodology from a social science perspective

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dc.citation.doi10.17159/sajs.2018/20170344en_ZA
dc.contributor.authorCallaghan, C
dc.date.accessioned2019-11-05T10:40:20Z
dc.date.available2019-11-05T10:40:20Z
dc.date.issued2018
dc.description.abstractOne of South Africa's National Research Foundation's (NRF) activities is to award ratings to academics who apply according to predefined categories. Explicitly or not, these ratings are part of submissions academics make for promotions and for employment in South African universities. As such, methodological assessment of the validity of this system is important. This paper seeks to conceptually evaluate certain characteristics of this system against certain general principles of reliability and validity. On the basis of the results of this evaluation, it is argued that assumptions that the NRF rating system is always valid or reliable as a differentiator of individual academics cannot be made unconditionally. Using Management Science as an example of a social science field that draws from multidisciplinary theoretical and methodological frameworks, this paper identifies certain validity issues associated with the current NRF rating system, and makes recommendations for improvements. Significance: •Certain validity issues are highlighted and arguments are made to improve the methodology used by the NRF to rate researchers. •Issues related to multidisciplinarity and mode two knowledge production are considered. •Technological advances that have made it possible for scientific measurement of research productivity and impact are discussed. •Problems with subjective methodologies are identified, together with their ethical consequences. © 2018 The Author(s).en_ZA
dc.description.librarianTT2019en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationCallaghan, C.W. (2019) African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Developmenten_ZA
dc.identifier.issn19967489
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/28348
dc.journal.linkhttp://dx.doi.org/10.17159/ sajs.2018/20170344en_ZA
dc.journal.titleSouth African Journal of Scienceen_ZA
dc.journal.volume114en_ZA
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherAcademy of Science of South Africaen_ZA
dc.rights© 2018. The Author(s). Published under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence.en_ZA
dc.subjectRating methodologyen_ZA
dc.subjectScientific methodologyen_ZA
dc.subjectSouth Africaen_ZA
dc.subjectSubjectivity biasen_ZA
dc.titleA review of South Africa’s National Research Foundation’s ratings methodology from a social science perspectiveen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA
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