Determining the impact of research in policy-making contexts is a challenging task, a fact which recent literature highlights. This blog post surveys several publications that address this subject. We begin with Sandra Nutley, Isabel Walter, and Huw Davies, who draw attention to important issues regarding measurement of the impact of research. They point out, for […]
Student Submission
Iteration and Innovation: Using the Right Models for Improving the Use of Research in Policy and Practice
This post briefly describes several models for research-policy and research-practice relationships, and then explores how two models– the interactive model and the context, evidence, and links model– best capture the complexities inherent in the use of climate change research in policy and practice. This post argues that models that promote the understanding of context, the […]
Social Networks and News Media: Impact on Information and Policy Development
The recent rise of social media and the growing presence of news media in the realm of public policy and decision making have created a new dynamic: policy makers are now sitting alongside the general population. In this new era of policy making, scientists, policy makers, and the general population all collaborate on policy issues […]
Communication of Research Information: Barriers and Enablers
Evidence-based policy making depends on effective communication of scientific and social science research-based information. Several barriers that bear on the ability to effectively communicate information are identified in the literature. Similarly, several enablers are described that can create more effective communication. Ultimately, enablers and barriers are two sides of the same coin. Many of enablers […]
The Importance of Public Consultations in Policy Making
Public consultations are a key feature of effective policy making. This blog post analyzes four publications on the topic of public consultations with regard to key findings, limitations, and best practices. The four publications vary in their focus: a book chapter by Leslie Pal provides the theoretical underpinnings of public consultations (Pal, 2010), a document […]
Communication of Research Information: Information Pathways and Models
Research-based information flows from a wide variety of sources, including dissertations, websites, peer-reviewed journals, policy briefings, or conference workshops, (Nutley, Walker & Davies, 2007). The information chain is a conceptual framework that attempts to demonstrate the transfer of this information. This framework models the various pathways information follows as it proceeds from the source to […]
What is the science-policy interface?
The science-policy interface is the complex intersection between science and policy, which has been explained as “a socially constructed and negotiated ‘boundary’ between two social groups; the scientific and policy communities” (Bremer & Glavociv, 2013, p.45), or as “institutional arrangements that reflect cognitive models and provide normative structures, rights, rules and procedures that define and […]
Social Science Information in Policy: Evidence-Based or Evidence-Informed?
The relationship between social science research and policy-making suggests policy may be informed by, rather than based on, evidence. Weiss (1977) supports this statement and claims that government uses social science to enlighten rather than dictate policy. Recently, Reimer & Brett (2013) agreed and believe that municipalities often do not have the expertise to make use […]
Scientific Communication and the Problems of Scale
I love to solve puzzles. It has been a fascination of mine ever since I was a child, and my thoughts were and are consumed by new stratagem to resolve any puzzle placed before me. I am fortunate, I guess, that as time goes on, new and more challenging ones keep emerging. I came to […]
The Difficulty and Necessity of Communicating Scientific Information: The Gardasil Story
The failure thus far of the Canadian government’s efforts to promote Gardasil, a vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV), the leading cause of cervical cancer, carries important lessons for advocates of evidence-based policy-making. The Public Health Agency of Canada’s 2006 approval of Gardasil was the culmination of a policy-making process that prioritizes evidence over political concerns. […]