RESEARCH THAT SCALES

Towsey’s comprehensive guide aims to help employees plan, manage, and scale their research to improve methods and results.

Anyone whose job description involves researching—whether as a ResearchOps specialist, marketing manager, or professor—will be interested to learn new methods for improving their operations processes. The first section of this manual breaks down scaling research vocabulary and strategies, including the relatively new term “ResearchOps” (which largely refers to maximizing value wherever it’s most needed) and the ways that “research outputs, people, and systems must be balanced and orchestrated to achieve strategic priorities.” The second section covers the eight elements of ResearchOps: “Participant recruitment” (how to find people for your study); “Knowledge management” (emphasizing the importance of trust within a study team); “Onboarding and support” (which includes choosing the proper support operating model); “Tools and vendors” (how to create your own “research tooling blueprint”); “Ethics and privacy” (how to protect your participants); “Money and metrics” (including the four operational tactics to get maximum money for your research); “Program management” (how to prioritize tasks); and “People and skills” (how to attract and keep top talent). Each chapter contains plenty of industry and real-world examples, such as when the author observes that any map of a public transit system mimics a kind of “decision tree.” Despite its nearly encyclopedic length and density, Towsey’s guide manages to leaven the heavy use of technical terms and jargon with a warm and engaging tone. Copious amounts of graphs and charts, many of which are extremely technical, break up the text and provide guidance for more visual learners. The author even works in some lightheartedness by recommending that readers “tackle one or two big hairy audacious goals.” While the material certainly isn’t for beginners, Towsey’s suggestions are both useful and relevant for professionals in the field of research.

An approachable reference tool that packs in an impressive amount of information.