Rather than contributing to the clarification of social issues, current social science policy research efforts have led to more complicated views. Qualitative research can and should (1) restrict the problem definition, (2) isolate the levers of change, and (3) identify unintended consequences of policy decisions. (Author/GC)

Describes problems resulting from certain uses of research in practical situations that indicate that reading educators should be cautious about how they use the findings of research in teaching. (MKM)

Preparation programs for educational administrators would be vastly improved if available knowledge were systematically used in the design, management, and study of the instructional programs. (Author)

Genetics offers many opportunities for nursing research. Nurse researchers can contribute in such areas as biological, environmental, and behavioral linkages; genetic determination of physiological responses; and translation of science findings into clinical interventions. (SK)

The value of qualitative research is often tempered by inappropriate use of methods and findings. Ways to enhance its utility include improving practice and critique, conducting secondary data analyses and qualitative metasyntheses, and finding valid, innovative ways to re-present findings. (SK)

Identifies the common supposition in research by business educators that a research outcome that is statistically significant is necessarily practically significant. Describes the use and interpretation of a simple objective measure of practical significance, called Effect Size. (Author)

Linkages between utilization and stakeholder participation in the evaluation process are discussed, with emphasis on the communication of results. Data from two small-scale participatory evaluations are used to support the argument that key elements of the participatory process can be linked to meaningful and multiple forms of research…

Challenges the wisdom of basing nursing practice on the findings of statistical research and offers objections to the philosophy of evidence-based nursing. Proposes rethinking what counts as evidence, suggesting a model based on reflection after the event. (SK)

A metamodel of evaluation utilization was developed from implicit and explicit process models and ideas developed in recent research. The model depicts evaluation use as occurring in an internal environment situated in an external environment. Background variables, international or social psychological variables, and evaluation use variables are…

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is therapy guided by the results of scientifically sound, relevant research. The Occupational Performance Process Model outlines the occupational therapy problem-solving process to assist occupational therapists in integrating information about individual clients into research findings to implement EBP. (SK)

Discusses ways in which practice-based research differs from traditional in terms of research questions, context, methods, dissemination, and assessment of merit. Suggests that a scholarship of practice requires a different lens, is consistent with a constructivist approach, and is immediately useful to practitioners. (Contains 32 references.) (SK)

Although there is increasing interest in evidence-based decision making in postsecondary education, there have been few large-scale empirical studies on the subject, and none of the research to date has examined in depth what specific data college faculty and administrators use in their jobs and the extent to which they use data analysis to design…

This chapter describes several examples of institutional use of state- and college-level tracking data to benchmark performance, improve student success, and enhance program effectiveness.

District central office administrators increasingly face policy demands to use "evidence" in their decision making. These demands up the ante on education policy researchers and policy makers to better understand what evidence use in district central offices entails and the conditions that may support it. To that end, the authors conducted a…

Three issues emanating from the Bulterman-Bos article (2008) form the core of this commentary. First, the issue of relevancy is addressed from the standpoint of action research and other forms of practitioner inquiry. From this perspective, the divisions between the cultures of university and school are addressed both ways: Each can potentially be…