ABSTRACT
With a few notable exceptions, the history of the utilization of social science knowledge in the past 50 years yields few examples of research being used to inform policymaking (DeLeon, 1996; Strickland, 1996). Why has social scientists’ ability to generate high-quality and increasingly sophisticated research outpaced their ability to disseminate research into the policymaking process? This conundrum, which has defied explanation for half a century, merits attention now when the climate is receptive. Policymakers, many of whom were educated in universities (Zigler, 1998), are requesting highquality research to guide their decisions (Farley, 1996; Melton, 1995; Miller, 1996; Strickland, 1996). Researchers are intrigued by the possibility of seeing their findings acted on outside the walls of academia (J. Smith, 1991; Zigler, 1998), and outreach specialists are committed to developing innovative strategies for connecting research to the pressing problems that confront and confound America’s youth and families (see Lerner & Simon, 1998a).
