NCJ Number
63679
Date Published
1979
Length
32 pages
Annotation
THIS PAPER HELPS CLARIFY THE LINKS BETWEEN THE TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE AND THE AREAS OF PLANNED CHANGE AND EVALUATIVE RESEARCH, SHOWING HOW THE THREE ELEMENTS INTERACT IN THE FIELD OF KNOWLEDGE UTILIZATION.
Abstract
THE INVESTIGATION OF KNOWLEDGE UTILIZATION CONCEPTS IN DIVERSE DISCIPLINES IS DISCUSSED AS ARE EARLY PIONEERING STUDIES AND THE DEFINITIONS OF 'KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER,' OR COMMUNICATING NEW IDEAS FROM DEVELOPERS TO USERS; 'PLANNED CHANGE,' OR FACILITATING THE ADOPTION OF NEW IDEAS; AND 'EVALUATION RESEARCH.' SIX GENERAL CONCEPTUAL MODELS CENTRAL TO THE KNOWLEDE UTILIZATION PROCESS ARE DESCRIBED, THE ROLE OF EVALUATION IN EACH IS DISCUSSED, AND THE STRUCTURE OF A SYSTEMATIC STRATEGY TO BRING ABOUT ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE IS OUTLINED. ALSO DISCUSSED ARE KNOWLEDGE UTILIZATION AS AN EVALUATION CONCEPT IN THE AREAS OF RESISTANCE TO EVALUATION, 'REINVENTION' OR ALTERATION OF EVALUATION METHODS TO FIT THE MILIEU, USE OF EVALUATION RESULTS, FORMATIVE EVALUATION OR CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK TO IMPROVE ESTABLISHED PROGRAMS, AND THE USE OF SOCIAL REFORMS AS POLICY EXPERIMENTS. THE PRACTICAL RELEVANCE OF KNOWLEDGE UTILIZATION PRINCIPLES TO THE BASIC EVALUATION PROCESS IS ALSO DISCUSSED IN A CASE STUDY OF THE A VICTORY ACRONYM MODEL THAT ANALYZES THE RECEPTIVITY OF THE HOST ORGANIZATION TO THE PROPOSED EVALUATION METHOD. IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES, LONGITUDINAL ASSESSMENT OF CHANGE, AND MEASUREMENT OF KNOWLEDGE UTILIZATION ARE ALSO DESCRIBED AS ARE THE POSSIBLE USES OF KNOWLEDGE ANALYSIS TO FACILITATE PATIENT COMPLIANCE OR TO BECOME A QUALITY ASSURANCE MECHANISM FOR RESEARCH. SOME FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (AOP)