Purpose:
Sought to (i) evaluate the economic benefits and impact of ESDS; and (ii) contribute to the further development of impact evaluation methods that can provide ESRC with robust estimates of the economic benefits of its data service infrastructure investments
Method:
Conducted (i) desk-based analysis of existing evaluation literature and reports, looking at both methods and findings; (ii) existing data from KRDS and other studies; (iii) existing management and internal data collected by ESRC and ESDS such as user statistics, internal reports, and the ESDS Mid-Term Review; and (iv) original data collection in the form of semi-structured interviews, case studies, and an online survey of ESDS users and depositors