The dissemination of research findings in children's services: issues and strategies.
Adoption & Fostering › Vol. 30 Nbr. 1, March 2006
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The dissemination of research findings in children's services: issues and strategies.
The dissemination of authoritative research knowledge is essential for professional development in children's services, yet there is little evidence available to suggest how this might be best achieved. The previous article (Price et al, 2006) shows that when research findings are presented in a variety of ways, the products are valued by professionals but more needs to be done if success is to broaden. In this article by Roger Bullock two questions and four challenges facing social researchers are considered in the light of the changing nature of children's services, new technology and the activities of a voluntary UK organisation concerned with adoption and fostering. Recommendations to improve the relationship between research, policy and practice are made. *
Key words: children's services, research dissemination, practice evaluation, research, policy and practice, BAAF Introduction At a recent Social Research Association (SRA) seminar in London, Nick Axford of the Dartington Social Research Unit gave a presentation on The Need for Better Dissemination and an Overview of Alternative Models (Axford, 2005a). In this, he noted that the report of the Commission on the Social Sciences (2003), entitled Great Expectations, argued that social research in the United Kingdom is not as influential as it might be, particularly because social scientists do not communicate well with users of research evidence. He then asked, how justified are these criticisms, especially in relation to children's services, and what success has been achieved in addressing them? In closing, he raised two fundamental questions and identified four challenges to improve the current situation. The first of these questions was how does social policy develop? Such knowledge is essential if the dissemination of research findings is to be effective; otherwise efforts could be hopelessly off-beam. Theories of change in social policy Several authors have examined patterns of change in social policy, for example by contrasting 'top-down' from 'bottom-up' processes (Hill and Hupe, 2002). Others have stressed the conflicting expectations and concerns of researchers, policy makers and practitioners, the f...See the full content of this document
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