ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
On this page we list some of our favourite writing about knowledge mobilization in all its forms. This is not meant to be a comprehensive reference list. Rather we have chosen work that is interesting to us in some specific way, usually because it provides either an interesting conceptual approach or some important empirical evidence.
We welcome comments or suggestions on the list as a whole or the individual items listed. Please email us at rspe@oise.utoronto.ca. Also, you may wish to visit our links pages to link to some of the organizations producing this work.
Elliott, H. and Popay, J. (2000). How are policy makers using evidence? Models of research utilization and local NHS policy making. Journal of Epidemiol Community Health. 54. 461-468.
Key words: Health care, policy, research utilization, knowledge mobilization
This study uses a literature review, 9 case studies, in-depth interviews with Research managers and researchers, and document analysis of project reports to understand how health policy makers understand the role of research in their work. The authors use Weiss's interactive model and Giddens's dialogical model of research use to understand how social knowledge translates into research and the impact of researcher's dialogues with users. From these models and a literature review on research use, the authors describe three implications that stem from the relationship between research and policy. Firstly that understanding the impact of research evidence comes from sustained dialogue between research users, policy makers, and researchers. Secondly, that the context of where the research comes from and where it will be used needs to be considered and finally that social research can help researchers and research users understand their different environments. Key findings from the case studies and document analysis point to: how financial constraints, timescales and experience influences the impact of research evidence in decision making; research impacts policy indirectly, and that sustained dialogue between research users and researchers increases the use of research-evidence in shaping policy.
Dobbins et al. (2009). A description of a knowledge broker role implemented as part of a randomized controlled trial evaluating three knowledge translation strategies. Implementation Science, 4(23). 1-9
Key words: Knowledge broker, knowledge translation, health sector
A knowledge broker (KB) works to promote interactions between researchers and end users, and to develop capacity for evidence-informed decision making. This paper reports in detail about a KB intervention, which comprised one of three Knowledge Translation and Exchange (KTE) interventions evaluated through a randomized control trial. Based on their findings, the authors develop a seven part typology of KB activities and identify several important themes including; relationship development, ongoing support, customized approaches, and opportunities for individual and organizational capacity development.
Ward, V., Smith, S., Carruthers, S., Hamer, S. & House, A. (2010). Knowledge brokering: Exploring the process of transferring knowledge into action. Retrieved from http://www.leeds.ac.uk/lihs/psychiatry/research/knowledgebrokering.htm
Key words: Knowledge broker, knowledge transfer
This study utilizes a knowledge brokering intervention in three health services agencies in order to learn more about the knowledge transfer (KT) process and produce a model of the KT process that can serve as a template to guide knowledge to action initiatives. The researchers collect empirical data on five elements of KT: Problem, Context, Knowledge, Intervention and Use. One knowledge broker (KB) was assigned to each organization for a duration of 12-15 months. Data sources include field notes from KB, interviews with participants and frequencies of each of the five elements of the KT process analyzed in relation to the number of times each element occurred during each episode with the KB. KBs met with organizations between 33-45 times over the course of the project, and their activities included information management, linkage, capacity development, and decision and implementation support. Data analysis tests the overall shape of the five elements of the KT process for the KB intervention in each of the three contexts: problem definition decreased over time, analysing context decreased but remained relatively central, selecting and adapting the knowledge increased and then decreased, selecting and implementing knowledge transfer activities remained constant and considering the ways that knowledge would be used also increased. The authors provide a revised model of the KT process operationalized as two practical frameworks: one for research producers and another for research users.
Bates, Richard. (2002) The impact of educational research: alternative methodologies and conclusions. Research Papers in Education, 17, 4, 403-408.
Key words: Educational research, Australia research, research policy, research impact, research practice
Bates summarizes the results of a recent Australian report comprised of four commissioned studies by the DETYA (Department of Education, Training, and Youth Affairs) to investigate the impact of educational research on both policy and practice. Overall, the author concluded that these methodologically diverse studies found the impact of research to be complex and often indirect. The theory to application paradigm did not figure predominantly in the accounts of educational practice.
Craik, J. & Rappolt, S. (2008). Enhancing research utilization capacity through multifaceted professional development. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 60,155-164.
Key words: Research utilization, grounded theory, professional development
Using grounded theory, the authors analyze the interviews of 11 practicing occupational therapists to examine how they develop skills for applying research evidence to their clinical practice. To eliminate the potential for known barriers to research use the authors interviewed “elite” occupational therapists. For the purposes of this study, they were defined as elite by being recognized by their peers as an educationally influential practitioner and having practiced in a well-resourced research –oriented environment affiliated with a university in a large urban facility. Knott and Wildavsky’s (1980) Stages of Research Utilization were used as criteria for evaluating participant’s research utilization activity. Results revealed that skills for retrieval, critical analysis and integration of research evidence could be developed through the therapists’ engagement in mentoring, learning, and research activities as well as providing client services. Based on the findings, the authors developed a model of research utilization capacity suggesting that organizations can promote research utilization by providing clinician-researcher and clinical leaders as mentors for practitioners and resources to undertake research utilization capacity building activities.
Davies, P. (2000). The relevance of systematic reviews to educational policy and practice. Oxford Review of Education, 26, 3&4, 356-378.Key words: Systematic review, Campbell Collaboration, meta-analysis
Key words: Systematic review, Campbell Collaboration, meta-analysis
The author summarizes the different types of systematic reviews and discusses their relevance to educational policy and practice. He refers to the criticism that education researchers appear to serve the interests of researchers rather than those of policy makers, practitioners and those who use the education system. There is a discussion of the problems with the utilization of systematic reviews. These include the assertion that the quality of these reviews is dependent on the quality of the studies reviewed and on the rigour, transparency and reporting criteria used by the reviewers. He discusses the need to bridge the gap between the knowledge and research needs of education practitioners and researcher considering education and the difficulties associated with relating research terms and practices in a relevant way to educational policy and practice. Davies, coordinator of the Campbell Collaboration, refers to this organization as a provider of “an international mechanism for preparing, maintaining and disseminating systematic reviews of the effects of educational interventions, policy and practice.”
Dobbins et al. (2007). Information transfer: What do decision makers want and need from researchers? Implementation Science, 2 (10). 1-12.
Key words: Knowledge transfer, community-based organizations, health care, decision makers, information transfer
The authors begin with a discussion about the background of knowledge transfer and how effective transfer of research evidence could be used to inform policy and practice to improve health outcomes. They suggest that researchers need to become more effective communicators of research finders while practitioners need to become receptive to including evidence into their practice. The way forward in this process is through collaborative efforts and restructuring work environments to support knowledge transfer and use. The purpose of the study was to do a systematic assessment of the need for research-based information by decision-makers who work in community-based organizations. The method used in the study was a cross-sectional telephone interview consisting of 65 questions. The results suggest that health professionals working in community-based organizations want access to high quality evidence that provides explicit implications for policy and practice. In addition, the authors report that collaboration between research-based and community-based organizations would likely provide familiarity with research and therefore improve the knowledge transfer activities between the organizations. Collaboration could also ease the knowledge transfer process by allowing the researchers to identify their audience, understand where research findings and evidence are most needed, and provide engagement between researchers and users to work together to design, carry-out and interpret studies. The authors conclude with the hope that building more collaborative processes could create more inclusive relationships between researchers, decision-makers and practitioners.
Estabrooks, C. (1999). The conceptual structure of research utilization. Research in Nursing & Health, 22, 203-216.
Key words: Research utilization, structural equation modeling
Estabrooks defines research utilization as a complex process in which knowledge, in the form of research, is transformed from the results of one or more studies into possible interventions and use in practice which may or may not take the form of a product. The purpose of this study was to explore the conceptual structure of research utilization. A survey was administered to a random selection of 1500 registered nurses from Western Canada and representative of several clinical areas (general hospital, critical care, geriatric/long term care, public health and home care). Results of the study support the existence of three underlying concepts of research utilization: instrumental (direct), conceptual (indirect), and symbolic (persuasive). As well, the study results suggest that although research utilization is complex it can be measured with relatively simple questions.
Gough, D. & Elbourne, D. (2002). Systematic research synthesis to inform policy, practice and democratic debate. Social Policy & Society, 1, 3, 225-236.
Key words: Quantitative data, qualitative data, research synthesis, systematic review
The authors present the issues contextualizing the debate surrounding the role and utility the various systematic approaches used to synthesize research evidence. Their review considers the ideological, methodological and political differences of qualitative and quantitative research and point out that although most systematic reviews have been concerned with the synthesis of quantitative data there is a need for synthesis of interpretative qualitative studies. They discuss the work involving systematic reviews done by of the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating (EPPI) Centre focus on health promotion and education and the Cochrane Collaboration concerned primarily with the field of medicine and the Campbell Collaboration in which the focus is on crime and justice, social welfare and education. Their discussion of the research emphasizes a transparent process of the issues recognized in the literature and the debate surrounding the role and provision of evidence to inform policy, practice and the democratic use of research knowledge.
Graham, I. D., Logan, J., Harrison, M. B., Straus, S. E., Tetroe, J., Caswell, W., et al. (2006). Lost in knowledge translation: Time for a map? The Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, 26, 13–24.
Key words: Systematic review, evidence-based model
Greenhalgh et al. address the question: How can we spread and sustain innovations in health service delivery and organization? The analysis includes content (defining and measuring the diffusion of innovation in organizations) and process. The discussion is based around 1) an evidence-based model for considering the diffusion of innovations 2) clear knowledge gaps where further research should be focused, and 3) a methodology forsystematically reviewing policy and management.
Hargreaves, D. (1999). The knowledge-creating school. British Journal of Educational Studies, 47, 2, 122-144.
Key words: Knowledge, dissemination, profession, educational research
Hargreaves calls for a reconceptualization of knowledge creation and its dissemination in education research. He proposes that schools should learn from the example of high technology firms where the importance of knowledge creation and dissemination is acknowledged stating that “to be content with current knowledge and practice is to be left behind”. In this paper, Hargreaves outlines the features of an ideal knowledge creating school as one that:
- Audits its professional working knowledge
- Manages the process of creating new professional knowledge
- Validates the professional knowledge created
- Disseminates the created professional knowledge
Hargreaves contends that networks are key to offering a more effective model of dissemination in which all school can participate in professional knowledge creation, application and dissemination. He sees the role of universities as initiating, supporting and co-ordinating networks and webs for educational research and professional knowledge creation.
Jacobson, N. (2007). Social Epistemology: Theory for the”Fourth Wave” Of Knowledge Transfer and Exchange Research. Science Communication, 29, 116-127.
Key words: User-groups, research-user relationships, dissemination strategies
Jacobson et al. produce a framework for knowledge translation that synthesizes theoretical and empirical literature in the field on what is known about user groups. The framework contains five domains (the user group, the issue, the research, the researcher-user relationship and dissemination strategies) including questions that act as a practical organizational tool for researchers to increase their familiarity with a user group during knowledge translation projects.
Kerner, J.F. (2006). Dullest translation versus knowledge integration: A 'funder" prospective. the Journal of Continuing Educaiton in the Helath Professions, 26, 72-80.
Key words: Health services, discovery-delivery gap
While this article focuses on Health Service Delivery programs, its review of the background and challenges in closing the discovery-delivery gap, crosses disciplinary boundaries. Exemplar strategies targeting the development-delivery gap are highlighted. Kerner concludes that translating research into practice requires a common language between stakeholders concerning the meaning of knowledge translation, knowledge integration and the nature of evidence. In the end, collaboration and partnerships (researchers to practitioners) are crucial to knowledge integration.
Klein, J., Connell, N., & Meyer, E. (2005). Knowledge characteristics of communities of practice. Knowledge Management Research & Practice, 3 106-114.
Key words: Communities of practice, knowledge sharing, knowledge nurturing
This paper examines the structure and knowledge activity of communities of practice to identify and characterize communities of practice into a four-way typology based on knowledge characteristics: stratified-sharing, egalitarian-sharing, stratified nurturing and egalitarian-nurturing. Klein, et al. suggests that knowledge evolves differently through different classes communities of practice. For instance, knowledge within stratified communities tends to evolve more slowly due to the influence of the different levels of expertise, in a predominantly top down progression, while moving more rapidly in egalitarian communities where they predict knowledge to be shared evenly between different grades. Although the authors have attempted to examine the different ways that knowledge is treated within various communities of practice they acknowledge that although they supported their argument with examples the framework they propose requires validation by empirical investigation.
Kotler, P., & Lee, N. (2005). Best of breed: When it comes to gaining a market edge while supporting a social cause, “Corporate Social Marketing” leads the pack. Social Marketing Quarterly, 3-4, 92-103.
Key words: Corporate social marketing (CSM), case studies
The authors define corporate social marketing (CSM) as a “strategy that uses marketing principles and techniques to foster behavior change in a target population, improving society while at the same time building markets for products or services.” (p. 92) They cite several reasons why CSM is exemplary when considering marketing benefits: changes in personal behaviour also can effect change in customer behaviour, it is more likely to be accepted by government and non-profit organizations with making measurable progress when involved with public agencies and nonprofits. The authors describe CSM as one of the surest ways to have a measurable impact on a social issue since it increases the number of people who act in a way that befits society. The use of marketing techniques to change behaviour has been used by government agencies and non-profit groups since the seventies with programs aimed at seat belt use, immunization programs and the but did not become part of corporate agenda until the mid-1990’s. Using case studies of successful corporate social marketing efforts (Crest: Cavity Free Zones for the Poor reducing the disparity in oral health between rich and poor requiring at-risk children to learn and practice good dental care habits) this article describes the conditions required to gain full marketing benefits. They suggest choosing a social problem whose solution at least partly requires people to change their individual behaviour with the target behaviour being directly related to one or more of the company’s products.
Landry, R., Amara, N. & Lamari, M. (2001).Utilization of social science research knowledge in Canada. Research Policy, 30(2), 333-349.
Key words: Knowledge utilization, dissemination, empirical study, Canada
This paper is based on an empirical study investigating research utilization of social science research in Canada with particular attention to the differences between disciplines and determinants of utilization of social science research knowledge. A mail survey was administered to 1229 social science faculty members of 55 Canadian universities. Based on a process design framework the scale used in the study were an adapted version of Knott and Wildawsky’s (1980) scale of the six stages of knowledge utilization (transmission, cognition, reference, effort and influence, application). The authors present a well-developed review of the major theoretical models and factors that were used to explain utilization. Results showed that although 20% of social science research does not get transmitted nearly half of the social science knowledge usually or always gets to practitioners, professionals and decision makers. Professional social sciences (social work, and industrial relations) were found to have higher rates of research utilization than the disciplinary social sciences (economics, political science, sociology, anthropology). The most important determinants were associated with the interaction of researchers and users the mechanisms linking researchers to users, dissemination efforts, adaptation of outputs, users’ context and publication assets of researchers. The authors note the most important finding is that knowledge utilization is more dependent on factors related to the behaviour of the researchers and users’ context than on the attributes of the research products.
Landry, R., Amara, N. & Rherrad. (2006). Why are some university researchers more likely to create spin-offs than others? Evidence from Canadian universities. Research Policy, 35, 1599-1615.
Key words: Higher education, knowledge transfer, resources
The authors escribe the underutilization of the large body of knowledge generated by health research as the “know-do gap”; that is, the gap between what is known and what gets done as evidenced by the amount of knowledge that is not used and developed quickly enough into health policies, products, services and outcomes. This article puts forward the concept of the knowledge value chain that looks at knowledge as a resource having characteristics that can increase or decrease value to the activities carried out by public health organizations. This non-linear concept consists of five perspectives that the authors suggest should be considered when developing any knowledge-management strategy: mapping and acquisition, creation and destruction, integration and sharing/transfer, replication and protection, and performance and innovation. The authors also identify five problems associated with the transfer of knowledge from one community or organization to another: knowledge access, knowledge incompleteness, knowledge asymmetry, knowledge valuation, and knowledge incompatibility. The authors recognize that although knowledge has characteristics that can increase or decrease the value of the organizational output it is difficult to measure knowledge and assess its value which makes it difficult to collect evidence on its impact on outcomes of public health programs and interventions.
Landry, R., Amara, N., Ouimet, M., & Saïhi, M. (2007-2008). Evidence on How Academics Manage their Portfolio of Activities. Paper presented at the 6th Biennial International Triple Helix Conference on University-Industry Government Links, Singapore.
Key words: Academic activities, complementarities, substitution, knowledge transfer, surveys, regressions
The authors of this paper aim to explore how the relationships between academic activities within a portfolio affect resource allocation and performance and how categories of determinants impact the likelihood of the academic’s involvement in each activity. Using a multivariate path model, data collected from 1,554 university researchers funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) were analyzed. Results suggest that there are three types of portfolios where academic activities are complementarities, substitutes or independent activities. Publications, spin-off creation, patenting, consulting and production of knowledge spillover were found to complement each other whereas teaching and publication were found to be substitutes, where there is an opportunity cost between the performance of one and the performance of the other. In the third model, the aforementioned activities were grouped into teaching-dependent and teaching-independent activities. Exploiting synergies in complementary relationships and reducing conflicts over resources between substitutes could improve performance in creating, transmitting and transferring knowledge. The determinants investigated by the study include financial resources, knowledge attributes, novelty of research, research fields, networks assets, organizational assets and personal assets, all of which have varying impacts on the involvement in each activity.
Landry, R., Amara, N. & Rherrad. (2006). Why are some university researchers more likely to create spin-offs than others? Evidence from Canadian universities. Research Policy, 35, 1599-1615.
Key words: Higher education, knowledge transfer, resources
This empirical study investigated the transference of university research knowledge in the context of the commercialization of knowledge by looking at spin-off companies as the most visible form of commercialization of university research. In particular, they wanted to know why some university researchers are more likely to create spin-off companies than others. In this paper, the authors define a university spin-off as the creation of a new company established commercially exploiting research knowledge created by university researchers. In their examination of the determinants that may influence the decision of Canadian researchers to create spin-offs the authors considered the influence of the following assets: financial, intellectual property, knowledge, social capital, organizational, and personal. The study was based on a telephone survey of 1554 university researchers funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Results of the logistic regression analysis indicated that research commercialization in more extensive in Canadian universities than generally assumed with 16.8% of the respondents having attempted to create spin-offs and 32% of the respondents having used various means to protect their intellectual property. They also discovered that the likelihood of launching university spin-offs increases as the researchers have access to more resources in the form of grants programs, intellectual property assets, knowledge assets (computer science and engineering) knowledge experience in consulting, social capital assets, access to the resources of large universities and large laboratories and many years of experience in research.
Landry, R., Amara, N., Pablos-Mendes, A., Shermani, R., & Gold, I. (2006). The knowledge-value chain: a conceptual framework for knowledge translation in health. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 84, 8, 597-602.
Key words: Public health, knowledge valuation
The authors describe the underutilization of the large body of knowledge generated by health research as the “know-do gap”; that is, the gap between what is known and what gets done as evidenced by the amount of knowledge that is not used and developed quickly enough into health policies, products, services and outcomes. This article puts forward the concept of the knowledge value chain that looks at knowledge as a resource having characteristics that can increase or decrease value to the activities carried out by public health organizations. This non-linear concept consists of five perspectives that the authors suggest should be considered when developing any knowledge-management strategy: mapping and acquisition, creation and destruction, integration and sharing/transfer, replication and protection, and performance and innovation. The authors also identify five problems associated with the transfer of knowledge from one community or organization to another: knowledge access, knowledge incompleteness, knowledge asymmetry, knowledge valuation, and knowledge incompatibility. The authors recognize that although knowledge has characteristics that can increase or decrease the value of the organizational output it is difficult to measure knowledge and assess its value which makes it difficult to collect evidence on its impact on outcomes of public health programs and interventions.
Landry, R., Amara, N., & Ouimet, M. (2007). Determinants of knowledge transfer: evidence from Canadian university researchers in natural sciences and engineering. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 32(6), 561-592.
Key words: Knowledge transfer, universities, engineering, natural sciences, research, determinants of transfer, survey data
The purpose of this paper is to determine the extent and the differences in the extent of knowledge transfer across different fields, and the determinants of knowledge transfer. It focuses on the activities of individual researchers in the natural sciences and engineering fields at Canadian universities. The paper consists of two parts: a literature review and data analysis of a survey of 1,554 researchers funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), representative of 6 categories of research fields. The results of this study support the hypothesis that the levels of knowledge transfer activities vary across research fields. For example, engineering ranked the highest amongst the six fields in the knowledge transfer index, followed by earth sciences. Also, as this study considers knowledge transfer from a broader perspective than commercialization of knowledge, it contributes statistical evidence that suggest researchers can be active in non-commercial knowledge transfer activities even when they are not active in commercial knowledge transfer activities.
Lavis, J., Lomas, J., Hamid, M., & Sewankambo, No. (2006). Assessing country-level efforts to link research to action. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 84, 8, 620-628.
Key words: Research evaluation, research synthesis
The authors develop a framework for assessing country-level efforts to link research to action. They describe the proposed framework as having four elements and state that if countries select and implement one or more options from this framework and apply rigorous evaluation there will be a more rigorous research base from which to draw in the future. The four elements of this framework are summarized by the authors as follows: the general climate for research use, the production of research that is relevant and appropriately synthesized for research users, the mix of clusters of activities used to link research to action and the evaluation of efforts to link research to act