Use of Online Research Project (UOR)

** November 2011 Update **

We continue to monitor and analyze the ways in which people access and use the online research pages and products of our partner organizations and have recently developed a framework of analysis that we will apply to the future analysis of Google Analytics and survey data. 

Review our preliminary findings.

JOIN OUR STUDY!

We are currently expanding the number of websites we track.  If you are an educational organizaiton with a knowledge mobilization mission and are interested injoining our study, we invite you to contact us at: rspe@oise.utoronto.ca.

Project overview

Our team has partnered with educational organizations in Canada and abroad to investigate the use of web-based research in education. We assess the extent to which research products, found on websites of participating organizations are used and the nature of this use. Initial findings suggest significant differences in the way individuals use various websites, which might be connected to differences in website design. 

The UOR project measures the use of web-based research materials, using two tools: 1) Google Analytic and 2) a two-part survey.  Google Analytics is employed to assess the degree to which our partner websites are accessed and to what extent website users download research resources.  The two-part survey is embedded on our partners’ websites and is used to assess whether and in what way online research resources are used by individuals who access research webpages and download research resources. 

Preliminary findings as of November 2011

1. The effort put into sharing products online is not matched by broad uptake
2. Organizations spend a lot of effort on passive dissemination strategies rather than active strategies
3. Informal sharing of online research is more frequent then formal sharing strategies
4. There is very little traffic to research pages as compared to the homepage or non-research based pages
5. The homepage of a website is rarely the point of entry; therefore, we need to rethink how websites are organized to maximize navigation and the use of research found online

To take part in our study, please complete our Survey: Use of Web-based Research Material