{"id":691,"date":"2015-04-07T21:38:17","date_gmt":"2015-04-07T21:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/?p=691"},"modified":"2016-01-15T01:48:35","modified_gmt":"2016-01-15T01:48:35","slug":"introduction-to-the-series-on-think-tanks-and-context","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/articles\/introduction-to-the-series-on-think-tanks-and-context\/","title":{"rendered":"Introduction to the series on think tanks and context"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Editor\u2019s note: This is the first of a series edited by\u00a0Elizabeth Brown<\/a>,\u00a0Aprille Knox<\/a>, and\u00a0Courtney Tolmie\u00a0<\/a>at Results for Development, focusing on think tanks\u2019 context. The series addresses a subject of great importance to think tanks as well as to those supporting them. It provides a substantial contribution to\u00a0On Think Tanks\u2019 efforts to promote a more nuanced discussion on the subject<\/a>. If you want to be a\u00a0guest editor for On Think Tanks<\/a>\u00a0please get in touch. This post was written by\u00a0Elizabeth Brown<\/strong>\u00a0and is is based on the study \u201cLinking Think Tank Performance, Decisions, and Context<\/a>,\u201d undertaken by Results for Development Institute in partnership with the University of Washington and with generous support by the Think Tank Initiative.]<\/em><\/p>\n

How often does the research on think tank performance and context actually make its way into think tank practice? I wondered about this question at the\u00a0Think Tank Exchange in Istanbul<\/a>\u00a0this year where context was an underlying theme in more than a few conversations. This led me to thinking that context elevates in importance when stakeholders\u2014think tank donors, research scholars and think tankers\u2014meet online or in real time. Yet for each group, context is likely an important point for different reasons. For think tanks, context anchors any comparative discussion of research agendas, communication strategies and ways of engaging with the government or carrying out their operations. For donors, context must be taken into account when engaging with think tanks to set appropriate performance targets, or when looking to evaluate portfolio performance. Finally, for think tank scholars context is a phenomena unto itself, in need of categorization, operationalization, and testing in multiple settings. Keeping these audiences in mind, this blog is the first in a series exploring think tanks and context. The following posts follow five themes that emerged from a recent study,\u00a0Linking Think Tank Performance, Decisions, and Context<\/a>\u00a0carried out by Results for Development (R4D) in collaboration with the University of Washington. The work was generously supported with funding from the Think Tank Initiative. The study was composed of four linked empirical investigations, including the input of more than 200 think tank executive directors, researchers, and donors from over 50 countries through focus groups, interviews, comparative case analysis, and an online survey of think tanks as well as a review of the research. The study asked three main questions:<\/p>\n

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  1. What is context and how is it measured?;<\/li>\n
  2. How does context affect think tanks\u2019 decision making and policy effectiveness?; and<\/li>\n
  3. How do think tanks evaluate and respond to context in practice?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In the process of answering the research questions, the team gained some new perspective on the state of research on think tank context and other themes. This blog series is intended to explore some new thinking that emerged from the study \u2013 and to begin to answer some of the most interesting questions about evidence and practice on think tank performance and context.<\/p>\n