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The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the health, economic, and sense of well-being of many nations worldwide, drastically changing and disrupting the daily lives of everyone in all levels of society. In South Korea, in particular, the pandemic destabilized many businesses, crippled production and services delivery, and debilitated work flows on such a massive scale, leading to high levels of unemployment and production shutdowns rarely experienced by the country before. This prompted the South Korean government to come up with national policies to revitalize the country's plunging levels of productivity by getting the nation's executives, managers, professionals, and labour force back to work by coming out with massive emergency programmes to protect their health, safety, and fitness to work in the midst of the lingering pandemic. In this study that we hope will contribute to the effectiveness of the ongoing national stimulus measures, we conducted a formal evaluation of the initiatives, policies, and efforts undertaken by the South Korean government to reduce the national unemployment rate and spur productivity in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is required to decolonize policy research in doing knowledge production about Indigenous peoples? Policy studies has been complicit in maintaining a central methodological policy research problem: the ongoing prevalence of hegemonic imperial and colonial knowledge production practices in relation to Indigenous peoples. This problem persists through policy researchers producing anti-Indigenous genocidal native-place-invisibilization in scholarship. Ambiguous relationality is another mechanism through which elimination of the natives takes place in research – it is when researchers deliberately/unintentionally omit naming and visiblizing their positionality in relation to the native-places the researchers are working with. Undoing harms emerging from native-place-invisibilization and ambiguous relationality requires a 'grounded normativity' oriented native place consciousness, naming and visibilization of the native place(s) the researchers work on/with, respecting sovereign Indigenous research jurisdictions, and applying an Indigenous Policy Research Framework (IPRF). Decolonization as a solution to the policy problem being tackled in this paper looks like counter-hegemonic radical redistribution of power back to the community when conducting Indigenous policy research. The IPRF approach is formulated using a literature review methodology and consists of guiding questions and principles to help steward the processes of decolonizing policy research. The aim is to support the emergence of radically restorative research justice practices and repair historically harmful relations between knowledge-producing systems/institutions and the Indigenous communities about whom the knowledge production is done. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this provocation, we discuss the potential for health/medical geography to contribute to a policy-relevant geographical research agenda that remains attentive to social theory debates. We illustrate the importance of time as a social determinant of health, through the case study of racial/ethnic inequities in spatial access to acute hospitals in the U.S. South region amid rural hospital closures, conversions, and mergers, which have decreased the supply of hospitals since 1990. In sum, racial disparities in spatial access were most pronounced for travel distances/times to the nearest alternative hospital, underscoring the importance of both temporal and spatial equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In policy research, the search for the correct balance between proximity and independence has never been easy. Policymakers need proximity to the research in order to ensure that it is relevant. Yet, there are also concerns about the rigour of research. To analyze this relationship in more detail, this paper focuses on the 'extreme case' of the WODC in the Netherlands, an internal but formally independent research unit of the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security. Research methods include semi-structured interviews and a survey (N = 673). We conclude that government leans on WODC researchers in all phases of the policy research process. In most cases, WODC researchers successfully resist pressure from policymakers, yet continuing pressure may easily lead to research methods, conclusions and press releases being altered for policy reasons. Finally, there are general lessons drawn from the WODC case that will assist in achieving a good balance between proximity and independence in policy research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article explores how an environmental education policy text comes to be constituted by discursive strategies that reproduce or challenge particular ideologies of environmentalism in relation to education. Using a qualitative analysis of discourses in the National Policy of Environmental Education of Colombia (NPEEC), we examine how these can be traced to a range of stakeholders. Unsurprisingly, key findings include that the discourses present in the policy strongly reflect broader policy agendas circulating in the country, such that the NPEEC falls in line with neoliberal policy prescriptions for addressing environmental challenges. The NPEEC also omits and transforms certain discourses from the environmental education researcher community, particularly when these offer critical and alternative viewpoints for tackling environmental issues through education. The article illuminates how these gaps and movements might be a result of global pressure on local governments, and how the contributions of nationally-recognised environmental education research and researchers have been reduced in the text of the NPEEC. We conclude this represents a problematic relation between research and policy, and discuss the features of this 'disidentification'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gastrointestinal cancers in Iran are among the major non-communicable diseases with a considerable burden on the health system. Changes in lifestyles as well as environmental factors have resulted in the emergence of these cancers. To elicit and quantitatively verify experts' opinions regarding the potential public health impact, feasibility, economic impact, and budgetary impact of gastrointestinal cancer prevention policies in Iran. Sixteen experts from Iran were recruited in an email-based, two-round Delphi study. In each round, a questionnaire of policy options for preventing gastrointestinal cancers, which adhered to the new policy framework of the World Cancer Research Fund International, was given to participants. In the first round, experts were asked to provide opinions for and against the policy options. The second round evaluated the policy options for their public health impact, feasibility, economic impact, and budgetary impact. A total of 32 policy options were organized based on three domains: health-enhancing environments, system changes, and behavior change communications. Of the 32 policy options, there were consensus in 31 (96%) and 30 (93%) options for public health impact and feasibility, respectively. On study completion, experts reached a consensus in 29 of 32 (90%) policy options for economic impact; only on 26 (81%) of these policy options did participants reached consensus for budgetary impact. Findings indicated that although nearly all policy options reached a consensus for their public health impact, some options are not feasible or do not appear to have an economic rationale for being implemented. Moreover, it is crucial to take into account the inter-sectoral collaboration between health and non-health sectors. Findings from this study can be helpful for health policymakers in identifying support for evidence-informed approaches regarding gastrointestinal cancer prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying with more than one ethnicity is becoming increasingly common in New Zealand. It is therefore important that the methods of categorising ethnicity used by government agencies and researchers effectively account for diverse ethnic identities. The aim of this research was to assess the impact of using different methods of categorising ethnicity on understanding outcomes in New Zealand, using Census 2013 information about tobacco smoking among the population aged 15+ years as an illustration. Prioritised, total response and single/combination categorisation methods were compared. Prioritised and total response categorisation generally produced similar prevalence estimates and patterns for smoking status, although estimates diverged somewhat for Māori ethnic groups and to a lesser extent for Pacific Peoples and Asian ethnic groups. Single/combination categorisation indicated that combination ethnic groups tend to have smoking outcomes between those of the constituent groups. Categorisation method had a considerable impact on the size of some ethnic groups. Prioritised ethnicity categorisation may be inappropriate for use by government agencies and for policy-relevant research principally concerned with children, young people, Māori or Pacific Peoples. Single/combination categorisation is useful for understanding the associations between ethnicity and outcomes, however previous work suggests this method should be used with caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recovering from childbirth while trying to balance workplace demands and stretch financial resources creates multiple stressors in the lives of low-income families. New Jersey is one of only three states that offers Family Leave Insurance (FLI), a program that enables parents to leave their job to bond with and care for their new child with some financial support. However, survey research shows that FLI is underutilized by low-income populations. Because little is known about the experiences of low-income working parents in New Jersey who have used FLI, it has been impossible to understand why this is the case. This qualitative study used Framework analysis to explore low-income mothers' experiences balancing work and a new child with or without New Jersey FLI, pinpoint barriers to FLI use, and identify ways to improve the program. Through focus groups and individual interviews, researchers found that lack of worker awareness and employer support are major barriers to FLI use. In addition, confusion about the program and administrative inefficiencies burden those who use it and undermine FLI's core purposes. Recommendations for program improvement include better outreach as well as administrative and benefit reforms to ensure that the program effectively serves low-income working parents and their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: One justification for marijuana legalization has been to reduce existing disparities in marijuana-related arrests for African Americans. Objective: Describe changes in adult marijuana arrest rates and disparities in rates for African Americans in Washington State (WA) after legalization of possession of small amounts of marijuana for 21+ year olds in December 2012, and after marijuana retail market opening in July 2014. Methods: We used 2012–2015 National Incident Based Reporting System data to identify marijuana-related arrests. Negative binomial regression models were fit to examine monthly marijuana arrest rates over time, and to test for differences between African Americans and Whites, adjusting for age and sex. Results: Among those 21+ years old overall, marijuana arrest rates were dramatically lower after legalization of possession, and did not change significantly after the retail market opened. The marijuana arrest rates for African Americans did drop markedly and the absolute disparities decreased, but the relative disparities grew: from a rate 2.5 times higher than Whites to 5 times higher after the retail market opened. Among 18–20 year olds overall, marijuana arrest rates dropped, but not as dramatically as among older adults; the absolute disparities decreased, but the relative disparities did not change significantly. Conclusions: Marijuana arrest rates among both African American and White adults decreased significantly with legalization of possession, and stayed at a dramatically lower rate after the marijuana retail market opened. However, relative disparities in marijuana arrest rates for African Americans increased for those of legal age, and remained unchanged for younger adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role of policy-relevant research in climate change policy development. It attempts to address a practically important question: does policy research actually make a difference in the processes of formulating and institutionalizing local climate change policy? Two case studies from Central Java Indonesia are presented. The analysis focuses on the policy development processes in the cities of Semarang and Pekalongan, both of which were based on an urban climate vulnerability assessment. We discuss and compare the policy-making processes in terms of three analytic dimensions: the type of policy measures, agent, and policy approach. We examine the relationship between assessment outcomes and the efforts to institutionalize climate change policy in the two cities. These case studies show that although policy actors in both cities have developed strategies and policy measures for addressing climate change, the quality of policy-relevant research was a marginal consideration in the policy formulation processes. An established agenda within a policy network had greater impacts on policy-making than research outputs, which were articulated and used in the context of this agenda. Advocacy coalitions re-defined and re-interpreted what research has shown. Understanding this ability is key to ascertain why or why not policy-relevant research matters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the methods used to study ‘elites’ are of particular relevance in policy research, to date there has been little examination of the particular challenges associated with ‘elite’ interviewing in this field. More specifically, the issues associated with interviewing ‘elites’ while conducting qualitative research in a contested policy domain, especially if policy processes are being studied as they play out in real time, remain underexplored. While the extant literature on ‘elite’ interviewing has begun to grapple with the notions of ‘power’ and ‘vulnerability’, the question of how these notions might need to be rethought in the context of a politicised policy domain remains open for examination. This article provides a methodological and reflexive account of the challenges associated with conducting research in one highly contested policy domain, namely, drug policy. Drawing on examples from a study which examined Australian drug policy processes, this article examines issues associated with anonymity and confidentiality produced through power relations between researcher and participant, particularly as these play out in a contested policy domain. In doing so, this article critically reflects on the practical and political implications for data collection, analysis and reporting of policy research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The contemporary state of media and communications policy studies is disparate and incohesive because of the varying research backgrounds of its scholars, imprecise use of terms and lack of linkages to broader policy research. This article argues that there is a need for more consideration of the mechanisms and tools and of the institutional processes and practices of policy-making. The article argues that policy-making needs to be seen as a public sphere in which debate and compromise takes place, rather than an arena from which only one contestant can emerge—an approach that reduces the possibilities for reasoned debate, conciliation and cooperation. The article argues that the lack of this approach leads to normative intransigence, policy drift and protectionism that actually reduce the ability to pursue democratic and culture values in media and communications policy-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the positioning of the Welsh education system within contemporary policy debate and analysis. It begins by outlining some of the ways in which education policy and provision in Wales differs from that of its neighbour, England, and then goes on to critique how these differences have been represented in both the media and by members of the educational research community. Indeed, the paper argues that these representations constitute a form of misrecognition. It is tempting to counter this misrecognition with assertions of the superiority of the ‘Welsh way’—and certainly pronouncements of a ‘crisis’ in Welsh education appear to be as much politically-driven as evidence-based. However, such an approach would underplay the very real challenges that face Wales—challenges which are both like and unlike those facing England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The paper concludes that we need a serious engagement with national divergences across the four nations of the UK—as well as elsewhere. The case of Wales highlights the need to undertake not only comparative analysis but alsorelationalanalysis if we are to enhance our understanding of the changing politics of education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a systematic literature review of policy research in the area of environmental and sustainability education. We analyzed 215 research articles, spanning four decades and representing 71 countries, and which engaged a range of methodologies. Our analysis combines quantification of geographic and methodological trends with qualitative analysis of content-based themes. Significant findings included temporal spikes in published policy research occurring in the mid-1970s, late 1990s, and after 2005, as well as geographic under-representation of Africa, South and Central America, Eastern Europe, and North and West Asia. The majority of articles reviewed were non-empirical; empirical articles overwhelmingly focused on teaching and learning directives, rather than exploring the complexity of policy development or enactment. We conclude our analysis by describing key research gaps as highlighted by the review and propose directions for moving forward policy research in environmental and sustainability education. In particular, we suggest greater research attention to critical policy theory and methodology, issues of intersectionality, and climate change education policy research. By outlining in greater detail the policy research that has been undertaken to date, the review provides a platform for a broadened diversity of policy studies in environmental and sustainability education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Higher education policy and politics in the United States (US) has been an issue of studies for several decades. Since the 1960s, researchers have been attempting to understand, explain and extrapolate on the relationships between higher education funding and political institutions. This review attempts to assess recent studies concerned with US higher education funding policies. Specifically, research undertaken for this paper followed McLendon’s (2003) suggestion for organising research studies according to four areas of contemporary political science research lines: (a) principal–agent theory, (b) policy process theories, (c) policy innovation and diffusion theory, and (d) comparative perspectives on government political systems. The studies selected for this review advance our knowledge of the forces that drive policies as well as address the issues that higher education institutions are facing: accountability, affordability and access. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article reviews the legacy of young people's involvement in policy research in the UK and proposes an approach of collaboration with young people that may be useful in other settings. It critiques the sociocultural and socioeconomic context relevant to young people's involvement in research, using the Young Researcher Network (YRN) as a case study. A key benefit of using the YRN has been the ability to identify and analyse potential barriers and facilitators influencing the relationships of young people and organisations whilst both groups worked together to improve policy. This allowed young people to connect to the policy environment in a meaningful way. The approach has been embedded into The Office for the Children's Commissioner in England, the National Institute for Health Research as well as other leading youth organisations in the UK, which is likely to increase the direct involvement of young people in policy research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Given the importance of higher education in social and economic development, governments need to build a strong higher education data and policy research infrastructure to support informed decision-making, provide policy advice, and offer a critical assessment of key trends and issues. The author discusses the decline of higher education policy research capacity in Canada and reviews the importance of strong national data systems in addressing issues of access and student mobility, and in understanding the implications of the increasing fragmentation of academic work. An international comparative study of national arrangements could illuminate useful strategies and approaches for strengthening this important policy research infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia has had a mixed history in the way in which policy research has related to higher education policy. Recognising a history of policy-related research and to some extent research-informed policy-making, Australia has followed the trend of other New Public Management-driven systems of de-emphasising policy-oriented independent research. In the face of massive change that has been confronting the higher education sector and will continue to do so, it is argued that evaluative and forward-looking research into the key areas of system coordination and institutional management is needed. A research agenda focusing on institutional change is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether or not policy is responsive to public opinion is central to questions of representation. Democracy by many accounts is premised on there being a strong correspondence between public opinion and policy. This link has not, however, been examined in detail in Australia. This article examines the policy–opinion link in a more robust way than that has previously been achieved in Australia, through the use of legislative data from the Australian Policy Agendas Project (APAP) and public opinion data from Roy Morgan. The article asks: is policy congruent with public opinion in Australia? In addressing this question, we examine to what extent policy accords with the preferences of the public. This in turn provides us with some answers about how representative Australian democracy is, as well as contributing to an international debate about the responsiveness of policy to public opinion. 政策是否要对舆论负责，这是代表制的核心问题。民主的前提往往就在于舆论和政策之间的息息相通。但在澳大利亚，人们并没有仔细地研究过二者间的关联。本文根据澳大利亚政策议题计划提供的立法资料以及罗伊摩根提供的舆情资料，对政策—舆论关联做了比以往充分多的研究。本文试问：政策与舆论在澳大利亚是否一致？我们考察了政策在多大程度上符合民意。这也为澳大利亚民主在多大程度上具有代表性的问题提供了答案，对于国际上争论政策对民意的回应问题也具有参考意义。。 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I present a comparative analysis of five cross-country composite gender indices. Although there is a relatively high correlation between the indices, the overlap of underlying indicators is low. Country rankings both at the top and at the bottom have parallels but are quite distinct. The differences are explained in two ways: methodologically and theoretically. The methodological differences concern in particular weights, capping, and aggregation. The Capability Approach helps to explain the different focus of each index by distinguishing between four stages of human development, which include distinct types of indicators. The substantial differences that exist between the gender indices require a cautious selection between these for research and policy analysis. This is shown in a few examples with policy variables. Finally, I present a set of three decision trees, which enables an informed choice between the indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To increase the uptake of research findings by policy makers and to encourage European researchers to better re-flect policy needs, we facilitated the development of a joint research agenda (JRA) on sustainable food consumption (SFC) involving scientists, policy makers, and other stakeholders. Pursuing interpretive action research and using a number of data sources, we tried to understand how the "fit" between the characteristics of policy makers' organiza-tional contexts and the attributes of the JRA development process affects the reception of the JRA and its outcomes. Our framework was based on three distinct formations of discursive and material practices related to the use of knowledge in public policy making: bureaucratic, managerial, and communicative. Two dominant patterns seem to be represented in SFC consumption in the European Union: a transition between the bureaucratic and the managerial formation and a highly developed managerial formation with occasional communicative practices. We found that re-flecting national policy priorities would help overcome some of the structural barriers between science and policy, whereas other barriers could be addressed by designing the process to better fit with the logics of the three for-mations, such as the fragmentation of knowledge (bureaucratic formation) or breadth of participation (communicative formation). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When a 2007 peer review of the English Government Department of Culture, Media and Sport's policy-making capability suggested the department's research should collaborate more with the bodies it funds, it responded by establishing the Culture and Sport Evidence (CASE) programme. CASE was funded jointly with the Arts Council England, English Heritage, Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and Sport England. To bring these five bodies together to invest jointly in research meant the focus of that research had to appeal to all. The common denominator was “engagement”. Internal analysis of the fundamental evidence requirements resulted in a three-way framing of the issue: what drives engagement, what is the impact of that engagement and how do we value it for economic appraisal. This led directly to the £0.5 million Understanding the Drivers, Impacts and Value of Engagement in Culture and Sport project in 2009–2010. We also built on the success of the CASE database to bring together a wide range of data under the banner of “Regional and Local Insights” giving researchers and policy analysts much easier access to a wider range of data than ever before. With the new administration's focus on reducing subsidy to the cultural sector, CASE now turns its gaze to the supply side of cultural policy, to understand what keeps organisations going. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discussions of drug policy tend not to consider whether the stated goals of policies are an accurate statement of what they are meant to do and also may not consider the fact that what benefits some people may harm others. We explore these issues and present an agenda for research in this area that, while not eliminating these difficulties, both illuminates them and can help guide actors toward more effective action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I outline an approach towards policy analysis that takes governmentality as its point of theoretical orientation and begin to apply this approach to my research into the recently raised compulsory school-leaving age in Western Australia. I aim to demonstrate the methodological potentials of this approach by giving examples of the thinking and practices that shape and condition the policy. I commence by situating the school-leaving age policy within a broader field of reforms occurring under the general banner of neoliberalism and argue that the policy is primarily concerned with the conduct of students classified at 'educational risk', and with transforming these students to become more visible, participative and engaged in their schooling. By focusing on the policy rationalities and technologies, and drawing on Foucault's notion of governmentality, I explore the forms of knowledge and practical strategies that are deployed in this policy field. I contend that this particular deployment narrowly constructs young people's experiences of schooling in ways that do not allow for a broader debate about their declining school attendance and what should be done to address it [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempts to develop a research agenda for understanding the process of constructing a sustainable Olympic sports development legacy. The research uses a social constructivist perspective to examine the link between the 2012 London Olympic Games and sustainable sports development. The first part of the paper provides justification for the study of sport policy processes using a constructivist lens. This is followed by a section which critically unpacks sustainable sports development drawing on Mosse's (1998) ideas of process-oriented research and Searle's conceptualisation of the construction of social reality. Searle's (1995) concepts of the assignment of function, collective intentionality, collective rules, and human capacity to cope with the environment are considered in relation to the events and discourses emerging from the legacy vision(s) associated with the 2012 London Olympic Games. The paper concludes by proposing a framework for engaging in process-oriented research and highlights key elements, research questions, and methodological issues. The proposed constructivist approach can be used to inform policy, practice, and research on sustainable Olympic sports development legacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social policies, including those in healthcare, have most often been developed in response to the pressure of vested interest groups, practicalities of the day, politics, ideologies and values, habits and traditions, and resource constraints. Knowledge, including that gained through systematic research and careful reasoning, too often has entered into the policy process in a haphazard fashion overwhelmed by these other forces. Too often our most valuable resource, knowledge, has been squandered. As a consequence social policies and healthcare policies have fallen short of their potential effectiveness, especially in terms of long-term outcomes. However, with the dawn of the 21st century major global changes are occurring such that social policies must be responsive to unprecedented global threats to population health, changing demographics, increasingly constrained resources, and growing citizen demand for equitable and valued outcomes. This will require that social policies of the 21st century place knowledge and evidence at the center of the policy-making process. Knowledge is the world's most valuable resource and it should no longer be squandered so flagrantly. The knowledge and information technology explosion is producing unprecedented resources that should be used for effective healthcare policies. The challenge is to find ways to rapidly disseminate and efficiently use knowledge and evidence in the policy process. This article describes new developments in evidence-based policy as a promising strategy for the use of knowledge to enhance health and mental health worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of theorists, including Charles Taylor, Arjun Appadurai and Dilip Gaonkar all associated with the University of Chicago based journal, Public Culture , have developed the idea of social imaginary. Their notion of imagination departs significantly from traditional philosophical and sociological analyses that view imagination as an individual capacity, located within the aesthetic realm. Instead, Public Culture theorists interpret imagination as a collective social fact that, in the era of globalisation, has become a critical part of everyday life, a form of labour in the formation of subjectivities. This paper will explore the major implications of this contention for thinking about educational policy research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two change efforts were implemented in two different state-level human services agencies using a "policy component analysis" method developed by the article author. The policy component analysis method was used as part of more comprehensive and ongoing organizational improvement (OD or organizational development) efforts. A policy is basically a plan or guide to future decision making efforts. Policies are also mechanisms for assuring uniformity and control and are political in nature. OD technologies are now being used to manage organizational changes in human services systems. The policy component analysis method described in this article is just one specific technology among many that can be used and adapted to address policy implementation problems in human services organizations, and is especially useful as part of an overall OD effort. However, the main focus of this article is on "data assessment and feedback." The policy component analysis method is a data-assessment and feedback strategy that can provide specific information to teams responsible for diagnosing problems and recommending solutions.

In the present political climate, politicians are singling out children's programs and services for budget cuts. The need for teacher education programs to prepare early childhood teachers as children's advocates is becoming ever more evident. For years, the National Association for the Education of Young Children has called for greater involvement of early childhood educators as advocates for programs and services that promote children's health and education. In teacher education programs, however, this call has largely gone unheeded. The purpose of this article is to discuss the importance of involving teacher candidates in advocacy activities and policy research, the obstacles that teacher educators can face when incorporating advocacy components into their teacher education courses and programs, and resources and strategies they can use. This discussion builds upon a motivation‐obstacles‐resources framework developed for adoption of innovative practices [Mintrom, M. (2001). Achieving quality early childhood education for all: Insights from the policy innovation diffusion research (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 451 959). Working Paper Series. New York, NY: Foundation for Child Development]. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A brief overview is provided of a project which examined the feasibility of conducting a trial of heroin prescription for dependent heroin users. The processes used in the feasibility study brought together multiple disciplines and interest groups and some detailed examples of how this worked are presented. The paper concludes by drawing out some general strands relating to the strengths of multidisciplinary research generally, guidelines for how to do it and comments on multidisciplinary policy research in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Small Business Centre, Durham University Business School, Mill Hill Lane, Durham DH1 3LB, UK The overall objective of this paper is to review, in the light of substantial growth of research in the small firms area over the past decade, some of the key issues involved in ensuring that research is relevant to policy makers. The paper is both academic and pragmatic. It has the following specific objectives: (l) to provide an overview of some of the ‘myths’ as to what constitutes quality in research; (2) to define research and policy research in particular; (3) to consider critically issues of research methodology and explore how different methods used by academics can lead to very different results; (4) to review the role of academics and academic institutions in policy research and to consider some of the difficulties that may result from endeavouring to introduce research on small business into traditional academic departments; and (5) finally, to make recommendations as to how to improve the overall framework in such a way that small business research can be more effective in the 1990s than it was in the 1980s. Overall the paper is written with a view to provoking discussion on key issues of making small business policy research more effective. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]