Intervention Research as an Interorganizational Exchange

Intervention research entails a process of innovation (e.g., Thomas 1985; Rothman 1980) which frequently involves the coordinated effort of several participating organizations. Each organization, separately or jointly, is responsible for some key phases of the process; for example, one organization may provide the funding, another may contribute research competency, and still another may offer the experimental site. Most commonly, intervention research, especially in its development phase, involves the collaboration between a university-based researcher or research unit working with a service-based agency on the design and implementation of improved service modalities. ¹ (This is illustrated in Chapters 9, 10, and 11.) Consequently, the success of this effort, measured in part by the actual adoption of the innovation, is in no small measure a function of the interorganizational coordination between a university and a social agency. The purpose of this chapter is to present the process and outcomes of this research endeavor, not in terms of the research or program design methods per se, but rather as an example of an interorganizational exchange. The typical intervention research project entails a sustained relationship between a university and a service agency. We propose that an understanding of that relationship, and attention to the interorganizational issues which arise from the collaboration, are essential for successful intervention research.