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Evidence, traces and connections: the search for a conceptual model to assess the impact of, and compliance with legislation on 'access to information', in public Higher Education Institutions. Case studies: Chile and the UK

Ramírez González, AC; (2015) Evidence, traces and connections: the search for a conceptual model to assess the impact of, and compliance with legislation on 'access to information', in public Higher Education Institutions. Case studies: Chile and the UK. Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London). Green open access

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Abstract

From the 1990’s there have been an increasing number of countries promoting laws to enhance public participation, transparency and accountability. Regarding legislation, this tendency reached a peak of 52 countries from 2000 to 2010, and currently there are around 102 countries which have enacted laws on ‘access to information’. Increasing number of countries with legislation suggests a need for assessment, but how to measure ‘impact’ and ‘compliance’ of the legislation considering the complexity of both constructs? The thesis examines methodological foundations applied to the design, and validation of a conceptual model to assess both constructs. As research problem, the thesis examines which analytical constructs withstand the assessment tests and which are vindicated to be included as independent variables of the conceptual model. Mixed methodology was applied to conduct the research. Papers published in mainstream publications during the last ten years were selected by relevance to create the model. Content analysis, expert panel technique, and statistical analysis were applied to support decisions on (1) dependent variables operationalisation, (2) underpinning components of the model definition, and (3) independent variables inclusion criteria. The proposed model was validated by 17 experts from 10 countries, and it has two dependent and 66 independent variables. The construct ‘impact’ was measured applying an innovation to Pastakia’s matrix – RIAM–, and ‘compliance’ was assessed through statistical analysis of three questionnaires. The proposed model was applied in public higher education institutions under the legislation in UK and Chile, through case studies. Although impact and compliance are different constructs, their assessment when examining the incidence of legislation on ‘access to information’, held by public HEIs reported no considerable asymmetries in term of impact scores and compliance achievements. When major positive impacts were obtained, compliance also reported positive results, and when impact was slightly positive, compliance was equally moderate or good.

Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Title: Evidence, traces and connections: the search for a conceptual model to assess the impact of, and compliance with legislation on 'access to information', in public Higher Education Institutions. Case studies: Chile and the UK
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language: English
Keywords: Information Rights, Public Sector Information; Freedom of Information FOIA2000; Act 20.285, Access to Public Information; Public Sector Institutions; Higher Education Institutions, Impact Assessment; Compliance Assessment, Conceptual Models; Knowledge Representation, Content Analysis; Expert Panel.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1469436
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