Working with researchers

Approach to research collaborations

We are a small team, with many potential areas of policy and research we could get involved in. We therefore schedule our projects at least six months in advance.

We are happy to discuss research collaborations that produce original insights and practical, helpful solutions that benefit business, disabled people, and government. We value evidenced based, credible, and original research from academia, think tanks, and other third sector led projects.

Additionally, we regularly act as non-academic advisers to research teams, and we are happy to share our expertise on research design and disability and health inclusion with non-academic researcher projects too.

Finally, we are able to share relevant research with our member community

Collaborative policy and research development

We believe in constructive debate and in presenting all options available. We therefore love “kind” challenge and helpful, collaborative disagreements. We treat differences of opinion with respect and, more than this, we value them and seek them out. We believe differences of opinion help us make potential solutions and policy developments all the more robust (and fun).

If this fits your approach, and you would like to discuss opportunities to collaborate, get in touch by
emailing.

Asking us to help recruit research participants

We are contacted almost daily by academics and researchers with requests for our Members and Partners to respond to surveys or invitations to get involved in their research, but without wanting BDF’s involvement in the project more widely.

We reserve recruiting research participants and promoting surveys for the projects that we are focussed on. This is so that we do not inundate our membership with research requests alongside them taking part in our own research projects.

Asking us to share calls for participation and research outputs

We are usually happy to share recruitment requests and research outputs on our social media channels and in our newsletters, as long as they are accessible and relevant. If you would like us to do this, please email us with the following:

• A ‘plain English’ 200 word summary which explains your project, why you are doing it (or did it), and what you want people to do (such as complete a survey) and by when (a deadline).
• An invitation for potential participants to contact someone to request the survey, research participation, or output in a way that is accessible to them.

A note on jargon

Please note that our Members and non-policy networks may not be familiar with academic, technical vocabulary, or subject specific jargon. You are likely to get better engagement and return on requests if your information is short and instructions are clear.

A note on accessibility

Before you approach us with materials you would like us to share, please make sure they are in an accessible format. We will not promote any materials, survey requests, or content that is not accessible or where there is not a clear invitation for readers to request a different version.

If you require this content in a different format, contact enquiries@businessdisabilityforum.org.uk.