Gli effetti della valutazione della ricerca sulla research agenda dei ricercatori

Since the introduction of research evaluation policies, many scholars have attempted to investigate whether research evaluation has produced any effect, both at organizational and at individual level. In the present thesis, we aim at understanding whether the introduction of research evaluation policies in Italial academic context have been produced an effect on how researchers formulated their own research agenda. Research agenda setting is defined as the sequence of medium and long-term actions with which the individual researchers organize and plan their research-related interests, according to their working and career goals. A mixed-method approach was chosen for the purpose of our research. A webmail survey and qualitative interviews were conducted on our target population, that is composed by economists, sociologists and political analysts, currently working in Italian universities. The survey outcomes suggest that the introduction of VQR has had slight effects on researchers' research agenda, while the ASN has determined more significant results. From the informed interviews, it emerges an academic sector that is still partially adapting to the introduction of research evaluation in the Italian academic context.