Synopsis
Research grants on improving the use of research evidence fund research studies that advance theory and build empirical knowledge on ways to improve the use of research evidence by policymakers, agency leaders, organizational managers, intermediaries, and other decision-makers that shape youth-serving systems in the United States.
Background
Research evidence can be a powerful resource for policymakers, agency leaders, organizational managers, and others who make high-stakes decisions that shape youth-serving systems. In addition to informing policy formation and service delivery, evidence from systematic research can deepen decision-makers’ understanding of issues, generate reliable assessment tools, support strategic planning, and guide program improvement. But only if it is used.
The research on research use
There is a growing body of evidence on the science of using research evidence. While prevailing strategies to bring research evidence into policy and practice rest on models that increase decision-makers’ access to rigorous evidence and incentivize or mandate the adoption of programs with evidence of effectiveness, research evidence remains under-used.
Recent scholarship points to the limitations of models that prioritize research production and dissemination without adequate attention to would-be users’ realities. Decision-makers may be experts on their systems, but, even with access to rigorous research, they may not have the capacity or resources to critically evaluate, prioritize, and apply the findings. What’s more, the research may not be relevant to their specific contexts or communities.
In order to harness the full power of research evidence, decision-makers need deep engagement and support. Across disciplines and policy areas, studies are remarkably consistent in their identification of specific conditions that enable the use of research evidence:
- research is timely and relevant, addressing decision-makers’ needs and local contexts
- trusted relationships between researchers, intermediaries, and decision-makers enable collective sense-making of research and deliberation over how to use it
- evidence use is integrated into decision-makers’ existing routines, tools, and processes.
Toward new strategies
While an extensive body of knowledge provides a rich understanding of specific conditions that foster the use of research evidence, we lack robust, validated strategies for cultivating them. What is required to create structural and social conditions that support research use? What infrastructure is needed, and what will it look like? What supports and incentives foster research use? And, ultimately, how do youth outcomes fare when research evidence is used? This is where new research can make a difference.
