ADR Research Summaries

You can access the summaries of research on ADR using the list to the right, in date order - or by going to ADR Research, where the research summaries are grouped into broad categories.
 
It is useful to remember that a great deal of research has been carried out on ADR and mediation over the past fifteen years. This research offers useful insights into the benefits and risks of using ADR and provides empirical evidence on issues such as cost, speed and outcomes of particular forms of dispute resolution in specific contexts. Such evidence should be borne in mind in ADR policy development.
 
For example, mediation and other forms of ADR are often promoted as "better" than going to court. Better is usually taken to mean cheaper, or quicker, or less stressful. These claims are often made by ADR providers trying to encourage people to use their services. Similar claims about the value of ADR are also made by government departments, as it is currently government policy to encourage people to try to resolve their disputes through ADR before making an application to court.
 
It is clear from research undertaken by Hazel Genn into mediation at Central London County Court that where mediation is successful it can be cheaper and quicker than litigation; not surprisingly, where mediation did not result in an agreement the case took longer and cost more. In Central London County Court in 2004, fewer than half of mediated cases reached an agreement as a result of mediation. You can read an outline of this research on 2007 Central London County Court.
 
Hazel Genn's findings, published in 2007, give a fascinating insight into mediation in county court cases over a period of ten years. But despite this, we do not have very much empirical evidence about the kinds of cases and circumstances in which ADR is likely to be successful, or the factors which need to be taken into account when deciding how an individual might best attempt to resolve a dispute. Hazel Genn's rather circular conclusion was that mediation works well in cases where the parties want mediation to work.
 

December 2010