Abstract
BackgroundEvidence-informed policymaking is more likely if organisations have cultures that promote research use and invest in resources that facilitate staff engagement with research. Measures of organisations’ research use culture and capacity are needed to assess current capacity, identify opportunities for improvement, and examine the impact of capacity-building interventions. The aim of the current study was to develop a comprehensive system to measure and score organisations’ capacity to engage with and use research in policymaking, which we entitled ORACLe (Organisational Research Access, Culture, and Leadership).MethodWe used a multifaceted approach to develop ORACLe. Firstly, we reviewed the available literature to identify key domains of organisational tools and systems that may facilitate research use by staff. We interviewed senior health policymakers to verify the relevance and applicability of these domains. This information was used to generate an interview schedule that focused on seven key domains of organisational capacity. The interview was pilot-tested within four Australian policy agencies. A discrete choice experiment (DCE) was then undertaken using an expert sample to establish the relative importance of these domains. This data was used to produce a scoring system for ORACLe.ResultsThe ORACLe interview was developed, comprised of 23 questions addressing seven domains of organisational capacity and tools that support research use, including (1) documented processes for policymaking; (2) leadership training; (3) staff training; (4) research resources (e.g. database access); and systems to (5) generate new research, (6) undertake evaluations, and (7) strengthen relationships with researchers. From the DCE data, a conditional logit model was estimated to calculate total scores that took into account the relative importance of the seven domains. The model indicated that our expert sample placed the greatest importance on domains (2), (3) and (4).ConclusionWe utilised qualitative and quantitative methods to develop a system to assess and score organisations’ capacity to engage with and apply research to policy. Our measure assesses a broad range of capacity domains and identifies the relative importance of these capacities. ORACLe data can be used by organisations keen to increase their use of evidence to identify areas for further development.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12961-015-0069-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Evidence-informed policymaking is more likely if organisations have cultures that promote research use and invest in resources that facilitate staff engagement with research
From the discrete choice experiment (DCE) data, a conditional logit model was estimated to calculate total scores that took into account the relative importance of the seven domains
Evidence indicates that policymakers’ use of research can be improved if their organisations (1) have a receptive attitude and culture towards research use and (2) invest in resources that support research use capacity among staff. In light of this evidence, it is essential that valid and reliable measures of the capacity and culture of organisations to support the use of research in policymaking are developed. Such measures are necessary to enable agencies to understand whether there are opportunities for increasing their use of evidence, where these opportunities for improvement exist within the agency, what particular strategies could be implemented to improve the capacity of staff to better engage with and use research evidence in policymaking, and whether or not these capacity building strategies have been effective [29,30]
Summary
Evidence-informed policymaking is more likely if organisations have cultures that promote research use and invest in resources that facilitate staff engagement with research. Evidence indicates that policymakers’ use of research can be improved if their organisations (1) have a receptive attitude and culture towards research use and (2) invest in resources that support research use capacity among staff (e.g. training programs, availability of research expertise, access to research databases, and other tools [24,25,26,27,28]). In light of this evidence, it is essential that valid and reliable measures of the capacity and culture of organisations to support the use of research in policymaking are developed. Such measures are necessary to enable agencies to understand whether there are opportunities for increasing their use of evidence, where these opportunities for improvement exist within the agency, what particular strategies could be implemented to improve the capacity of staff to better engage with and use research evidence in policymaking, and whether or not these capacity building strategies have been effective [29,30]
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