key messages There is a need for improved understandings of evidence use in policy. This paper explores the potential of policy narratives as a way to make sense of evidence in the policy process. It shows how policy narratives emerged as a key theme in a study of Australian education policy-making. It argues that policy narratives have real methodological potential for the evidence use field. Introduction There is a lot written about the use of evidence within the policy process. It has been the focus of conceptual exploration (for
Key messages Conceptualisations of evidence use are shaped by the goals and tasks of administrative programme officials. Institutional logics shape perceptions of the appropriate forms and applications of evidence for policy needs. A programmatic approach allows reflection on what constitutes improved uses of evidence within policymaking. Introduction An enduring concern in the field of evidence and policy has been around how to conceptualise the use of evidence within a policymaking arena – both in terms of what ‘use’ can mean, but also to
523 Evidence & Policy • vol 14 • no 3 • 523–35 • © Policy Press 2018 Print ISSN 1744 2648 • Online ISSN 1744 2656 • https://doi.org/10.1332/174426418X15314037224599 Accepted for publication 22 June 2018 • First published online 23 July 2018 practice Contribution of a network of parliamentary committees of health to the ecosystem of evidence use in African parliaments Rose N Oronje, roseoronje@gmail.com Eliya M Zulu, eliya.zulu@afidep.org African Institute for Development Policy Despite growing interest in evidence among parliamentarians and some emerging
Key messages Evidence use in local government is changing but in-house capacity remains underestimated and underutilised. Embedded, co-located researchers can work with local government navigators to use levers of influence. Changes to academic funding, career paths, incentives and assumptions are required. The influence and impact of embedded research in local government requires further testing. Summary The question explored in this study was how to embed a culture of research and evidence use in local government (LG). Although studies of LG
working to improve evidence use in low and middle-income country settings, the authors argue that engaging with ‘the political economy of the policy problem’ is likely to be key. We end this editorial introduction to issue 3 (Volume 16) with a few quick reflections and announcements: The articles in this issue highlight just how collaborative and international the interdisciplinary scholarship in the field of evidence and policy studies has become. The articles in this issue come from a wide range of countries and the vast majority are multi-author articles, with
3© The Policy Press • 2012 • ISSN 1744 2648 ed ito ria l Evidence & Policy • vol 8 • no 1 • 2012 • 3–5 • http://dx.doi.org/10.1332/174426412X620092 Complexity and clarity in evidence use The more we study evidence use, the more we realise the complexities involved. This issue of the journal is no different in examining different approaches to research synthesis, the social and political contexts of evidence use, and the need for local as well as more generic research results. Research synthesis, bringing together what we know from research, is an important
251© The Policy Press • 2011 • ISSN 1744 2648 re se ar ch Evidence & Policy • vol 7 • no 3 • 2011 • 251–76 • 10.1332/174426411X591744 Individual and organisational capacity for evidence use in policy making in Nigeria: an exploratory study of the perceptions of Nigeria health policy makers C.J. Uneke,1 A.E. Ezeoha, C.D. Ndukwe, P.G. Oyibo, F. Onwe, E.B. Igbinedion and P.N. Chukwu This paper presents and discusses the outcome of an exploratory quantitative cross-sectional study of the perceptions of Nigeria health policy makers on capacity for evidence use in
129 EIGHT Conceptualising and modelling evidence use in politicised policy areas Despite considerable effort at bridging the gap between evidence and policy, rare is the study that leads to direct change in direction. (Weiss et al, 2008, p 34) Previous chapters have raised a number of quandaries for the analyst trying to explain the nature of the evidence and policy relationship with particular reference to heavily politicised areas. It has been suggested that particularly in these contexts zero-sum accounts of the evidence and policy relationship are the
3 Evidence & Policy • vol 15 • no 1 • 3–5 • © Policy Press 2019 Print ISSN 1744 2648 • Online ISSN 1744 2656 • https://doi.org/10.1332/174426419X15468573563108 First published online 06 February 2019 editorial Managing complexity, emotions and politics in evidence use and implementation studies Katherine E Smith, katherine.smith@ed.ac.uk University of Edinburgh, UK Mark Pearson, mark.pearson@hyms.ac.uk University of Hull, UK To cite this article: Smith, K.E. and Pearson, M. (2019) Editorial: Managing complexity, emotions and politics in evidence use and
567 Evidence & Policy • vol 14 • no 4 • 567–69 • © Policy Press 2018 Print ISSN 1744 2648 • Online ISSN 1744 2656 • https://doi.org/10.1332/174426418X15378674250492 First published online 23 October 2018 editorial Taking forward the study of evidence use: valuing and integrating different forms of evidence Mark Pearson, mark.pearson@hyms.ac.uk University of Hull Katherine E Smith, katherine.smith@ed.ac.uk University of Edinburgh To cite this article: Pearson, M. and Smith, K.E. (2018) Taking forward the study of evidence use: valuing and integrating
