Borenscheider, Karen et al. 2013. Policymakers’ Use of Social Science Research: Looking Within and Across Policy Actors. Journal of Marriage and Family 75: 263-275.
This study aimed at attain a more nuanced and contextual understanding of the use of social science research in the policy community. In order to increase research utilization in policymaking, it is necessary to better understand policymakers and the professional and institutional cultures within which they operate. The authors use a sample of 68 legislative staffers and 56 high-ranking officials from 8 family-serving executive agencies in Wisconsin. They use exploratory cluster analysis to examine the differences within these policymakers in three aspects: valuing, seeking and use of social science research. Four latent groups are discovered and categorized: Enthusiastic High Users, Enthusiastic Low Users, Skeptical High Users, and Skeptical Low Users. This study provides support for community dissonance theory and also offers pragmatic implication. For instance, Enthusiastic High Users in the legislative institution values innovation and action-oriented research while those in the agency institution prioritize the quality of research. These findings can contribute to the better communication between policymakers and researchers.
这篇文章旨在更好的理解社会科学研究是如何被运用在政策执行上的。为了更好地提高研究成果在政策制定上的运用，我们必须更好地理解政策制定者以及他们所身处的职业文化和行政社区文化。作者们从威斯康辛的8所家庭服务执行机构里面选取了68位立法官员和56位高端官员作为样本，通过探索性聚类法去衡量官员在三个方面的定位：如何评估研究、如何收集研究以及如何利用研究。整个样本可以被分为四个群体：热情型高使用者、热情型低使用者、怀疑型高使用者、怀疑型低使用者。这篇文章的结论符合社区失调理论，并且给读者提供了实际的操作意义。比如说，立法机构里面的热情型高使用者比较关注研究的创新性和行动力，而代理机构里面的热情型高使用者更加关注研究的质量。这些研究为研究者和政策制定者之间的更好互动提供了不少有用的建议。