Background: COVID-19 accentuated an evergreen dilemma in evidence-informed policy making--the imperative to synthesise the best available evidence with limited time to produce high quality synthesis. The pandemic prompted the adaptation of evidence synthesis practices to match the urgency of the crisis, and heightened demand by policy makers,…

Background: Understanding knowledge utilisation in policymaking is a core task for the social and political sciences. However, limitations and biases abound in commonplace approaches to measuring such use. Consequently, we have little systematic evidence of the extent to which knowledge sources are used in policy decisions. Aims and objectives:…

Through a qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study, I examined the intersection of document analysis, sensemaking and policy implementation, that revealed rich descriptions of situated policy contexts and nested working practices where policy actors from Ontario, Canada, and England, UK, translated and used career guidance policy documents.…

Participatory methods are having sweeping effects on research across the globe. To facilitate transparency around these methods, "Autism" introduced mandatory reporting of community involvement in January 2021. Here, we sought to determine the impact of this policy. To do so, we -- a team of Autistic and non-autistic researchers --…

Agent-based models combine data and theory during both development and use of the model. As models have become increasingly data driven, it is easy to start thinking of agent-based modelling as an empirical method, akin to statistical modelling, and reduce the role of theory. We argue that both types of information are important where the past is…

Calls to improve relationships between research and practice abound, among them efforts to help researchers to work in partnership with and communicate more effectively with policy and practice audiences, informing those that govern and design educational policies and those charged with implementation in schools and classrooms, respectively. These…

This article sets out to look critically at the use of systematic reviews in the cross-disciplinary field of early childhood and international development. Systematic reviews--a specialist methodology involving the secondary analysis of existing knowledge on a particular topic--is prevalently used to address complex questions in social and…

Objectives: Overviews search for reviews rather than for primary studies. They might have the potential to support decision making within a shorter time frame by reducing production time. We aimed to summarize available instructions for authors intending to conduct overviews as well as the currently applied methodology of overviews in…

Background: Recent attention to health of people with intellectual disabilities has used a health disparities framework. Building on historical context, the paper summarizes what is known about health disparities from reports and research and provides direction on what to do to reduce these disparities among adults with intellectual disabilities.…

Examines economic equation systems by describing the simultaneous equation model, its application to the economy as a whole, and a systemwide approach to microeconomics. The systems approach focuses on particular segments of the economy such as consumer spending. (Author/KC)

Through a review and integration of heretofore rather distinct literatures, this paper develops preliminary conceptual frameworks of the variables affecting the acquisition and utilization of technical information by administrative agencies. (Author/IRT)

Drawing upon the perspective of the policy sciences and a cross-disciplinary background, the author presents an integrated model of information-producing research activities that feed into various parts of the decision-making process. This model incorporates evaluation, needs assessments, policy analysis, training and technical assistance, and…

This paper explains some of the problems with, and their importance to the application of, the Cross-Impact Matrix (CIM). The CIM is a research method designed to serve as a heuristic device to enhance a person's ability to think about the future and as an analytical device to be used by planners to help in actually forecasting future occurrences.…

Policy analysis, or policy study, is defined as the study of the nature, causes, and effects of alternative public policies; sometimes policy analysis refers to specific methods used. Two new developments associated with policy analysis are discussed. One is the concern for deducing the effects of alternative policies before they are adopted, as…