Overview
A Strategic Research Programme on the application of meta-analysis in transport research has recently been established by support from the Norwegian Research Council. The chief area of application has so far been in summarising the results of road safety evaluation studies. Numerous other areas of application are, however, envisaged, including studies that have valued non-marketed goods in monetary terms.
The objectives of this programme are to improve the skills of the research staff in the use of meta-analysis, to develop the methods of meta-analysis as applied to transport research, and to extend the use of meta-analysis to new areas.
This programme is a strategic institute programme (SIP), aimed at developing new research areas and rendering professional activities leading to a deeper understanding. The programme's status is reported to the Norwegian Research Council every year. The initiative to establish the strategic institute programme was made by the institute itself, while the Research Council is held responsible for the professional quality assurance of the SIP.
Funding
This programme is financed by the Research Council, with a total budget of approximately EUR 500 000 over five years from 2000 to 2004. The funding is dispersed as follows (all numbers are approximations):
2000: EUR 75 000
2001: EUR 100 000
2002: EUR 100 000
2003: EUR 125 000
2004: EUR 100 000
The major part of the resources is spent on man-hours worked by research workers at the Institute of Transport Economics.