SCIENCE AND PRACTICE INTERPLAY - A STUDY OF THE USER’S ROLE IN INFORMATION EXCHANGE
Thomas
Tydén, PhD Dalarna Research
Institute, Sweden
- SUMMARY
- PRESENTATION
- EMPHASIZING RESEARCH CONSUMERS
- Research utilization
- Training and Motivation for research utilization
- Learning organizations
- ORGANIZATIONAL BARRIERS
- THE PREDOMINANT PARADIGM AND THE ACCEPTANCE OF INFORMATION
- Resistance to change
- Each organization is unique
- Information transfer in the building industry
- THE SHIFT TOWARDS A STRICTER MARKET ECONOMY AFFECTS THE DISSEMINATION OF RESEARCH RESULTS
- KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION OUTSIDE THE UNIVERSITIES
- REFERENCES
-
PRESENTATION
"We are all living in permanent white water". These words by management scientist Peter Vaill [1] reflects in a poetical way the fact that people and organizations everywhere are encountering the process of change on a scale and intensity which one could scarcely have imagined possible ten years ago.
It seems as if we hardly have time to recover from the effects of one wave of change before the next is upon us. Learning to cope with change has become a matter of importance not only for organizations but also for us as individuals and family members. Nor has the building industry escaped the effects of the winds of change. On the contrary, large-scale changes in organizational structures and economy have been implemented over the past few years.
Competence-improving measures can be one way to meet such change. In this article I will focus on one component of the required competence scientific knowledge and discuss questions regarding the dissemination of research information and the utilization of research results. My own perspective is research dissemination, as an encounter between people with differing knowledge sources; in particular, professional knowledge and skills/knowledge gained by experience and familiarity vis-à-vis scientific study.
I shall discuss education/training as one practical means to develop this encounter so that professionals themselves can approach research and its results and even evaluate them critically, i.e. training to become research-consumers. Users too can benefit from research results.
The success of these educational efforts and the practical application of research results is, among other things, dependent on certain organizational barriers; these are discussed in the next section.
The article concludes with a discussion of two significant changes that have recently occurred in many western countries and will no doubt profoundly influence the work of research dissemination and knowledge utilization. First is a shift toward a stricter market economy affecting, e.g., funding organizations. Secondly there is a growing body of research institutions and knowledge producers outside the university hemisphere whose strength is their proximity, both geographical and mental, to different groups of practitioners.
- In present-day society
there is a tendency to overrate the achievements of
research (formal rationality), to the detriment of
everyday knowledge and professional skills (applied
rationality). Consequently the dissemination of research
does not include adequate stages where the user is the
focus of interest and where research results are viewed
in the wider context of the user’s work, and are
evaluated and tested accordingly. Practitioners in many
professions and trades engage simultaneously in several
fields of work, each requiring a diversity of knowledge.
One aspiration on the part of researchers, intermediaries
and others to disseminate the results of research in all
areas of knowledge that may be of interest to a
particular professional category can be problematical for
those for whom the results are actually intended. It may
well be both physically and mentally impossible for a
worker to absorb such a wealth of information and the
torrent of data may prove counterproductive. The
recipient then suffers from a bad conscience for all the
wasted information, contained in piles of unread papers
on his or her desk, that will ultimately be consigned to
the wastepaper basket.
The implication here is that for many professions and trades, the perspective of research dissemination needs to be reversed, from the traditionally sender-oriented, to more a user-friendly one. Another conclusion is that it matters less how practitioners are made aware of research results, than that they themselves should actively procure such information. In other words, instead of studying how information from research sources reaches different professional categories and charting the various pitfalls and short-cuts along the way, it is necessary to identify and open up avenues by which professionals themselves can track down research results and even learn how to evaluate them.
All this emphasizes how important it is that different professions themselves begin to formulate problems, seek knowledge, deal with research results (i.e. critically examine and assess), make environmental analyses, make priority rankings, etc. In other words, practitioners must become active research consumers.
It is appropriate to say a few words about research utilization vis-à-vis knowledge utilization. My point of departure is to discuss and problemize questions regarding research information, its dissemination and use. But seen from the recipient’s perspective, these questions are not always of primary interest; rather, the solution of practical problems has proved to be of greater interest. Whether the knowledge needed to solve a problem and provide answers to questions is obtained from research and development, or comes from elsewhere, seems from the user’s perspective to be of minor importance. Knowledge utilization can therefore, for the user, often be a more appropriate concept than research utilization.
- From a pedagogical
perspective, a good research communicator is a person who
inspires confidence, who speaks the same language as the
recipient, is familiar with the environ-ment in which the
recipient lives and works and who himself lives and works
near the recipient. It is furthermore crucial that the
recipient trusts the communicator. It is evidently
difficult to find informants who have all these qualities
and, at the same time, the qualifications required to be
an informant. These include an ability to orientate
themselves in the academic world, to be accustomed to
reading, critically appraising and taking a stand
regarding research reports. These are qualifications for
which it is difficult to find an adequate training; in
fact, there is no formal training for a post as
‘research informant’.
On the other hand, these qualifications are to some extent fulfilled by the training of researchers. Here one is taught to read and scrutinize various theories and methods and in this way gradually become acquainted with the academic world and that of research. Those who have studied to become researchers or undertaken other higher academic studies have at the same time gained a valuable qualification, at least in principle that of research informant. This is underlined in a state publication from the Ministry of Education, on the role of research in society:
"The most important way to nurture the exchange of ideas and knowledge between research and the rest of society is a basic academic education of quality and adequate breadth and extent. The results of research, its methods and attitudes, must be conveyed to those who in their future work will contribute to industry and public affairs" [2].
This qualification-by-education must not be allowed to become too old, however, as it is vital to keep one’s contact network reasonably intact. The alternative is to actively maintain contacts with the university and with the world of research by means of one’s own research or similar activities.
This illustrates the advantage for the building industry of obtaining qualified staff by employing, whenever justifiable, people who have trained as researchers or who have some other academic qualification. This conclusion is supported by the results of a study concerning the way research results are utilized by local authorities [3], [4]. The authors state that written reporting and direct information by personal contact between researchers and recipients are the two most frequently used channels, and that employees, to a far greater extent than politicians, provide themselves with the results of research via these channels. But they also state that politicians nevertheless do obtain some research information:
"Analyses show that especially employees with a reasonably appropriate background and interest in research serve as bridge builders between researchers and politicians" [5].
Civil servants trained as researchers or interested in research played an important role as links between researchers and politicians in the local authorities investigated.
- An alternative or
complementary approach for the building industry is to
encourage their own personnel to undertake further
education. If they have a sympathetic attitude toward
further education, the necessary competence can be
created and research informants be trained internally.
Organizations must do this in such a way that the
competence so gained can be put to practical use, and
they must be sufficiently flexible to permit staff to
attend further education courses, etc. In this way, what
has been termed ‘a learning organization’ can
be built up [6].
Educating the research consumer can begin at college or university. Considering the likelihood that a large proportion of professionals will not in the current situation and probably not in the future themselves conduct research, the educational institution should offer alternative courses in research methodology. Instead of the traditional courses, whose objectives are to teach students how to conduct a research project, one should concentrate one’s efforts on teaching how to define issues and then seek solutions by combing the relevant scientific literature. The ultimate objective is that the student should be able, by utilizing this material, to suggest various options for action. The purpose is to provide students with a guide so that in the future they can find their own way around research results and know how to apply relevant parts.
Continuous training is of importance if one wants to achieve a fuller understanding and better application of research results. Not just any form of training will suffice, however, since the relation between higher education and an application of research results is not self-evident. Educational programs must be specially adapted to the purpose of creating the conditions necessary for digesting and critically evaluating research results. The goal of such programs should be to create in its students "a scientific skepticism". My conclusion is that one should focus upon investing in training programs especially designed to create research consumers. An important question to take up in this context concerns how personnel within the building industry can be motivated to participate in such programs, which is discussed in the following.
Earlier I suggested [7] that interest in further education is conditional upon the acceptability of the practical conditions for participation. It has to be possible to combine study with both work and family. Also of great importance is the educational climate within the whole organization and even one’s own colleagues’ attitude toward further education.
An interested management is of decisive importance for creating an interest in and understanding of further education at all levels in the organization. That personal management qualities play a larger role than economic resources is something that many studies claim.
In the study mentioned above, a number of participants in further education were of the opinion that they had been encouraged by colleagues to attend the course. They described the group pressure that emerged when several people at the same workplace decided to attend the course. "I decided to attend after seeing the attendance list. I felt that I wanted the same training as the others" explained one woman. That both an active process of influence by management and group pressure bore fruit was obvious, according to the study.
But influence from work colleagues did not always facilitate participation. Several of the interviewees claimed that participation in further education deviated from the traditional pattern at their place of employment. Those that chose to attend the further education course would deviate from the informal norm and would thereby be exposed to their work colleagues’ reactions. These reactions were most common amongst work colleagues who were not in managerial positions. For management the norm was rather that one was expected to participate in further training and continually improve one’s skills which, on the other hand, could be experienced by some as a pressure. Several wished that their work colleagues at least some of them had a different view of further education. A few interviewees admitted that they had privately wrestled with an unfavorable environment. It might be a pretty good guess that educational programs within the building industry are facing the same problems.
One factor that affects the extent to which new knowledge is used is the relationship of the substance of that knowledge to accepted attitudes and the basic values prevailing within one’s own organization. Seidel [8] studied a group of administrative decision makers in municipal authorities, architects and environmental and behavioral research (EBR). Seidel maintains that those researchers who try to produce material for use by architects come into conflict with their own organization’s system of remuneration. Nilsson and Sunesson [9] feel that there are quite different strategies for the utilization of research results within municipal organizations. These disparities can, according to the authors, be traced back to differences in the fields of conflict and organizational forms.
Shon [10] described the process of assimilating knowledge as contention rather than communication. He feels that new methods, for example, place demands for change on the established routines that can be experienced as a threat, which in turn provokes resistance, and ultimately open conflict. Berggren [11] discussed these issues in his thesis, using as an example radiography clinics. He studied the rapid adoption of computerized tomography in radiography departments in Sweden and states that one explanation why things went so quickly is that the new technology is compatible with prevailing norms among radiologists. For comparison, Berggren names ultrasound techniques, which require professional reorientation by the physicians concerned. Consequently, the introduction of this technology has taken considerably longer.
A classical example of the conflict between new thinking and the ‘establishment’ was the physician Ignaz Semmelweiss, active in Vienna in the mid-19th century. During the absence of his superior, on holiday, Semmelweiss succeeded in radically reducing the numbers of cases of puerperal fever on a maternity ward by prevailing upon the physicians to wash their hands on their way from the mortuary to the maternity ward! When the Head returned, Semmelweiss was in effect dismissed, instead of being congratulated and honored. His superior had been the initiator of instruction in mortuary procedure and perhaps felt himself affronted [12].
THE PREDOMINANT PARADIGM AND THE ACCEPTANCE OF INFORMATION
These organizational barriers illustrate what is sometimes called comme il faut or, to use Kuhn’s term, ‘the predominant paradigm’; it indicates that an increased understanding of the way in which research information and dissemination should be organized requires an insight into the system of values prevailing in the recipient’s organization. To achieve this, the researcher must be prepared to be a field worker for a time.
In an interview investigation of civil servants in the field of mental health, Weiss and Bucuvalas [13] found that the interviewees made a distinction between their own knowledge and values and those prevailing at their place of work. Previously, also according to Weiss and Bucuvalas, it had been believed that when decision makers resist new information, this is due to an attempt to preserve their way of working, and even their posts and their careers. However, the study showed that the decision makers dealt with research results differently according to whether they challenged their own values or those of their workplace. They resisted research that did not accord with their own way of thinking, whereas they were amenable to that which criticized policy and practice prevailing at their place of work. Resistance to research that questioned their own values was, according to Weiss and Bucuvalas, not so much a political response based on a conceived threat to their own position as a perception that the research results are mistaken or erroneous. Research that contradicted the knowledge and values they themselves had developed over the years was seen as research whose results were suspect on intellectual grounds.
Kennedy [14] asserted that an individual’s values (myths, legends, value judgments, etc.) affect the way information is accepted, though it may be difficult to identify these when one conducts an interview. That which appears to be a myth may actually be based on evidence, and vice versa. Some authors have asserted that the individual’s self-interest plays a dominant role in the overall system of knowledge. Holzner and Fischer [15] argued in favor of knowledge organized without regard to its expected use, while Lindblom [16] argued that knowledge is organized primarily to serve one’s own interests. One obstacle on the individual level can be occupational identity. If research results show a different way of solving a problem, compared with the customary one, this can pose a threat to one’s occupational identity professional ethos will be called in question. It is not unusual that such proposed changes are countered by the reaction, ‘So you think I have done it wrong previously?’, or ‘I’ve been doing it this way for 25 years and I know best’.
Resistance to change is not at all unusual either in organizations or in individuals, and research results often herald winds of change. Reasons for opposition vary; one may be that such a change will bring with it some form of change in one’s own work situation, which can be experienced as a threat. At any place of work, an equilibrium develops where each colleague finds his/her own place in both the existing official and unofficial hierarchies. Proposals for change destabilize this balanced structure and one can feel one’s own personal position to be threatened. As we live in a world undergoing rapid change, one needs a knowledge chart with which to orientate oneself in this process of change. To observe these changes and interpret them is one of the challenges of working life. But it is no easy task to detect what is new, if knowledge is, paradoxically, an intractable obstacle. But with a too-rigid occupational identity or organizational structure, there is a danger of getting enmeshed in the commonplace or traditional world of ideas and of repeatedly retracing one’s steps so often that it becomes difficult to see the way ahead. The problem is not always the getting of new ideas, but rather getting rid of old ones.
Weiss and Bucuvalas [17] stated that one problem in political life is that each actor reacts to initiatives and rewards that (may) improve his/her own position. They gave, as examples, politicians who hope to be re-elected, the Highways Department which advocates more roads, budget professionals who hope to find arguments for cutting costs, and so on. The type of information that each actor wants no doubt varies considerably according to his/her responsibilities and tasks.
One conclusion that can be drawn is that decision makers are not necessarily integrated with the existing ideology and praxis of their place of work. Therefore, study of an organization’s values alone is insufficient to understand how research results are utilized; the values of the individual professionals must also be taken into account. This was confirmed in a study of environment and health inspectors, where I identified differing attitudes to research results in different sub-groups of inspectors [18].
A few researchers have chosen to study other explanatory variables in an attempt to explain why research results are or are not utilized. Weiss and Bucuvalas [19] began with the purposes of studying the utilization of research results and highlighted variables such as problem-solving, political lobbying, the pursuit of knowledge, and misuse. One problem with their analysis is that they have sought general explanatory variables without discussing in detail the fact that different institutions have unique qualifications in the form of culture, organization, objectives, etc. R. and D. results can often stimulate changes in the recipient’s way of thinking and in some cases even lead to a desire for practical changes that affect the recipient’s organization. I mentioned above various obstacles to such proposed changes and a natural question then follows: what sort of organization can best utilize the results of research? I have not studied this question in detail but would like to emphasize the need for such studies.
Information transfer in the building industry
There are, however, a few studies where the case-studies have been deliberately concentrated on certain specific industries, professions or organizations, e.g. studies on the Swedish building industry [20], [21] that underline the importance of understanding the industry’s particular ethos in order to learn how innovations spread and to help supply the industry with new knowledge to a greater extent.
Paajanen [22] studied the information service for small and medium-sized firms. She emphasized the importance of adapting it to serve these smaller firms, both as regards the type of industry in question and also regarding each firm’s individual situation. Other examples can be cited: from transport in Norway [23], [24], town and country planning in Sweden [25], federal decision makers in the USA [26], politicians in the USA [27], various public authorities in the USA [28], [29], medicine in Sweden [30].
Björklöf’s study of the Swedish building industry was published a decade ago. It was a Swedish dissertation entitled "The Building Industry’s Propensity for Innovation" [31]. The author concludes that innovations in the building sector are disseminated in several ways, but one dominant pattern persists:
- "This distinctive
pattern can be directly attributed to the sector´s
production system. It is within the project
organizations, not within the companies, that the
innovation is really assessed. Usually, the project
manager, or the project management group, makes the
critical decision whether or not to implement the
innovation. In principle, innovations are tested in the
course of large projects and from there spread to other
projects".
However, in Sweden, some of the major companies within the building industry have started different R. and D. programs, but these have not yet been examined or evaluated.
As far as I know there are few studies dealing with the question of research information and dissemination within the building industry. On the other hand, several studies during the past decade have addressed the question of how organizations are to achieve a greater degree of competence for change, i.e. have the ability to adapt to changes in the world around and even create new knowledge. The concept of ‘learning organization’ has been put forward and Senge [32] says that a learning organization presupposes an integration of five different areas of activity and behavior:
- the first is the creation of opportunities for the individual to develop personal skills based on experience (personal mastery),
- the second is to organize groups of professionals so that they can develop together without being inhibited by internal competition (team learning),
- the third is that the organization’s staff share common aspirations (shared visions),
- the fourth is the ability to view development processes from a systemic perspective (system thinking),
- the fifth is to expose and even change those mental models that form our various perceptions of the world around (mental models).
Even if these five areas do not directly address the question of utilization of research results within an organization, they can at least form a useful basis for studies of organizations and research information, dissemination and utilization.
THE SHIFT TOWARDS A STRICTER MARKET ECONOMY AFFECTS THE DISSEMINATION OF RESEARCH RESULTS
In the past five year, there has been a drive in Sweden towards a stricter market economy, affecting the public services, similar to that in Britain during the Thatcher era. One result of this political shift has been that public organizations have had to struggle harder for survival and prove that they are useful and necessary for society. This is also the situation for research funding organizations, which also have to show that their activities are useful and prove that the new knowledge resulting from their funding is actually used.
The question of research information and dissemination is thus lifted high up on the agenda not primarily for the unselfish reason of putting knowledge to use, but rather to show the effectiveness of research organizations. We are aware of an increased activity among research funding organizations to produce brochures, pamphlets about their work, figures and bar charts illustrating sales of reports, and so on. That reflects a concentration on activities that can be seen and measured.
In the light of findings on knowledge utilization as a process and a dialogue, this can mean backtracking to the 1970s. In those days, there was a profusion of popular scientific articles and other publications, informative brochures, seminar series, mass-distributed information. There were series of practical trials of color-printed information folders illustrating research results. But as research into research information and dissemination has begun to concentrate on the recipient, the superficial qualities of such products of research have begun to lose some of their explanatory value.
Baklien [33] feels that it is unrealistic to regard research application as a technical problem and that such ideas are based on a limited understanding of how decisions are arrived at. Behind this lies the great importance that the channels of information, informal networks, conferences and personal discussions have for those groups of civil servants and elected officers who, according to Baklien, are the most prominent and enthusiastic recipients of research. Often it is these communications that can make the best use of a research report, that in its original form was an almost unintelligible 600-page tome [34].
The shift towards a stricter market economy has had implications that are leading toward a more traditional form of research dissemination based on a ‘top-down’ perspective. But irrespective of the sometimes dubious reasons for this, the increased interest in research dissemination has also stimulated interest in theories about and methods for improving the dissemination process. And some funding organizations have in recent years manifested their interest by financing research into these issues.
KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION OUTSIDE THE UNIVERSITIES
A new labor market for researchers is expanding outside the university campus, in private and semi-private institutions, regional research organizations, etc. Even within the ordinary labor market one can discern a trend, where qualified scientists are sought more eagerly than ever before. This applies to both the local communities and the county councils [35] as well as to some of the expanding industries [36].
There are also completely new research funding organizations that differ in organization and objectives from the old ones. They emanate from public or private organizations and have a specific target group for their research, a group that operates quite close to the organization. One common denominator for all of them is that they prefer to support researchers working very close to the target groups, which means that they favor researchers within the above-mentioned new labor market for researchers. But it also implies that they promote research methods that involve the target group in an interactive way, e.g. participatory research methods. From a dissemination point of view, this promotes user-oriented research information, as the receivers of the anticipated research results are integrated in the process from the very beginning even as early as when the research problem is formulated.
The purpose of this new research differs, and can be illustrated by using the county authorities as an example. The reason for this choice is that I have participated in a study concerning these organizations. But I do think that the results should be of interest for other groups in society.
The main task for the county councils is to provide the inhabitants of the respective areas with health and medical care services. Primary responsibility for R. and D. work both concerning and within the medical and health care sector has previously been regarded as lying with the State. Nevertheless, many county council physicians have, on their own initiative and within the framework of their duties, engaged in research. In recent years, however, the county councils’ attitude to R. and D. responsibility has changed. It is now the accepted view that the county councils and the local municipalities bear a partial responsibility for initiating and financing R. and D. concerning and within their own units.
Over the past few years, the county councils have invested increasingly in R. and D. projects affecting primarily their own activities. This trend has been encouraged by the Federation of County Councils which has also tried to monitor the progress of this development by initiating several studies. The overall aim of one particular study, which has been conducted by the Dalarna Research Institute at the request of the Federation of County Councils, was to gather new knowledge about the county councils as players in the field of research and about R. and D. operations run by the county councils [37]. In an empirical study of three selected county councils, the specific aim was to highlight and discuss the actions of those councils with regard to R. and D., and particularly as regards organization, orientation, motives and research information.
The study of the three county councils clearly shows that the otherwise most common objective of R. and D. efforts, namely the desire to acquire new knowledge, is subordinate to other motives. This observation is confirmed by most of the R. and D. policy documents from other county councils. It is clear that the county councils are far more interested in the indirect results of R. and D. work, namely the increase in the expertise and know-how of their staff, the increased ability of staff to adopt new knowledge and to cope with change, the greater attractiveness of their workplaces in terms of recruitment of new staff, the economic and social development of the respective counties, and so on. The fact that it is the research process itself which is the center of focus, and not in the first instance the expected results of that research, is of great significance when evaluating the county councils as players in the field of R. and D.
As far as the county councils’ work with research information is concerned, it is a factor of great importance that the main motive for R. and D. efforts is not the desire to acquire new knowledge. Thus the central R. and D. bodies of the county councils are not only expected to report on research results but also on research work in progress. Information on the latter is aimed primarily at staff of the respective county councils themselves. A clear strategy for disseminating research information is still rare in the county councils, however.
Different Associations of Local Authorities and the individual municipalities are, in their various ways, also concentrating on R. and D. In particular a new R. and D. program within The Association of Local Authorities is worth mentioning. Its title is "The Commune as a research setting and its prerequisites for the ability to benefit from research results". The Program was started in 1995 and has aroused great interest from researchers and practitioners, attracting more than fifty applications in the first round. This means that more than fifty practitioners and/or research groups are willing to work with these issues.
One conclusion to be drawn from the above is that traditional Swedish research is being challenged by new actors whose strength is their proximity, both geographical and mental, to different groups of practitioners, a proximity that places the issues of research dissemination high on the agenda. As knowledge producers, the traditional universities are challenged by these new actors and to some extent are already being left behind.
Another conclusion is that the barrier between the two cultures, the scientists and the practitioners, is blurred. In different groups of practitioners, people with an academic background or even with a scientific background are being hired. And in the scientific world, increasing numbers of researchers are working closely with practitioners and have already left their ‘ivory tower’.
This blurring of the boundaries between science and practice is in one way threatening for the two groups, as their identity might become blurred to the same extent, but at the same time it indicates a drive towards closer collaboration between research and practice and perhaps a constructive interplay and better use of each other’s knowledge.
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33. Baklien, B. op. cit. (refs. 23, 24). (Go back)
34. Nilsson, K. and Sunesson, S., op. cit. (ref. 9). (Go back)
35. Ternhag, G., Tydén, T., and Bengtsson, M., (1995), Drivkraften. Landstingens satsningar på FoU, inriktning, organisation, motiv, Landstingsförbundet och Dalarnas forskningsråd, Stockholm. (Go back)
36. Norås H. Å. (1994), Företag och forskning i samspel. Fem exempel från svenska företag. DFR-rapport 1994:5, Dalarnas forskningsråd, Falun. (Go back)
37. Ternhag, G., Tydén, T., Bengtsson, M., op. cit. (ref. 35). (Go back)
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