ABSTRACT
This chapter starts by asserting an inconvenient truth—that a substantive gap exists between the production of research and how it is utilized in the policy world. Persistent misunderstandings exist between research producers (e.g., scholars, evaluators, and analysts) and research consumers (e.g., lawmakers, executive officials, policy implementers, and program administrators). The chapter goes on to define key terms such as policy, social policy, and evidence-based policy, along with terms such as research evidence and social research evidence. Next, the authors examine the theoretical considerations that might explain existing communication gaps including the character of the policymaking process itself; various limitations inherent in the processes of doing scientific inquiry; differences in the societal structures of democratic institutions across nations; and differences in the structural environments in which research producers and consumers operate. Finally, the chapter unravels factors in the policy world that are key to addressing the communication gap. These include understanding the heterogeneity within the population of the researcher and policymaker communities, the interactions between research producers and consumers, the nature of policy questions, and the responsiveness of research to policy questions.
