Knowledge to Policy: Making the Most of Development Research
Fred Carden, currently the Director of Evaluation at the International Development Research Centre in
International Development Research Centre 2009 - Sage/IDRC ISBN 978-81-7829-930-3
e-ISBN 978-1-55250-417-8 - 224 pp.
Available online at: http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-135779-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html
Disponible en français - - Disponible en español
“…….Does research influence public policy and decision-making and, if so, how? This book is the most recent to address this question, investigating the effects of research in the field of international development. It starts from a sophisticated understanding about how research influences public policy and decision-making. It shows how research can contribute to better governance in at least three ways: by encouraging open inquiry and debate, by empowering people with the knowledge to hold governments accountable, and by enlarging the array of policy options and solutions available to the policy process.
Knowledge to Policy examines the consequences of 23 research projects funded by
“…….The message of evidence-based policy was: Decision makers at every level should attend to the findings that emerge from research, data series, evaluation, and analysis. They should discard hoary old shibboleths when evidence demonstrates that they are misguided. They should undertake the kinds of activities that, according to research, yield positive outcomes. They need to pay attention to the evidence that researchers produce in order to improve the calibre of the policies they enact. Those are the taken-for-granted assumptions.
As we have already noted, such assumptions are overly optimistic, particularly in developing countries without a tradition of analyzing the consequences of research. But if one could not expect policymakers to base policy on evidence, one could at least take account of the facts in the situation. Some of the original proponents of evidence-based policy backed off to ‘evidence-influenced policy’, and later to acknowledge the value of the even less ambitious ‘evidence-informed policy’. To many people, research seems an eminently worthy endeavour. It brings the fresh wind of reality into the councils of policy. It shows new relationships and concepts at work. But there is virtue in setting expectations at a reasonable level…..” from Carol H. Weiss Professor Emerita,
Content:
Foreword Carol H. Weiss, Professor Emerita,
Preface
Maureen O’Neil, President & CEO, Canadian Health Services Research Foundation, Past-President International Development Research Centre
SECTION I: THE FINDINGS
1. Making Research Count
2. Policy Matters
3. What Works, What Doesn’t
4. Managing Research, Exploiting Contingencies
5. Research and the Politics of Policy
6. Conclusion
SECTION II: THE CASE STUDIES
7. Introduction
8. Poverty Monitoring
9. Trade and Finance
10. Resource Management
11. Water Management
12. Health and Education Reform
13. Networks and Innovation
14. Information and Communication Technologies for Development
SECTION III: TECHNICAL NOTES
15. The Multiple Case Approach: A Methodological Overview
16. Changing Practice: A Note on Using Evaluation for Organizational Change
Acronyms
References
Annotated Bibliography
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