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Evaluation
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From Knowing to Doing

A Framework for Understanding the Evidence-into-Practice Agenda

Sandra Nutley

University of St Andrews, UK smm{at}st-and.ac.uk

Isabel Walter

University of St Andrews, UK iwa{at}st-and.ac.uk

Huw T. O. Davies

University of St Andrews, UK hd{at}st-and.ac.uk

The past decade has witnessed widespread interest in the development of policy and practice that is better informed by evidence. Enthusiasm has, however, been tempered by recognition of the difficulties of devising effective strategies to ensure that evidence is integrated into policy and utilized in practice. There is already a rich but diverse and widely dispersed literature that can be drawn upon to inform such strategies. This article offers a guide to this literature by focusing on six main interrelated concerns: (1) the types of knowledge relevant to understanding research utilization/evidence-based practice (RU/EBP) implementation; (2) the ways in which research knowledge is utilized; (3) models of the process of utilization; (4) the conceptual frameworks that enable us to understand the process of RU/EBP implementation; (5) the main ways of intervening to increase evidence uptake and the effectiveness of these; (6) different ways of conceptualizing what RU/EBP means in practice.

Key Words: evidence-based policy • evidence-based practice • knowledge utilization • research utilization

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Evaluation, Vol. 9, No. 2, 125-148 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/1356389003009002002
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