Quality use of research evidence: practitioner perspectives

Abstract

Background: This article comes in response to two gaps within the research use literature: a lack of work on quality of use as distinct from quality of evidence, and a lack of research use models based on practitioner, as opposed to researcher, perspectives. Aims and objectives: The study probes into the views of education practitioners about ‘using research well’, and explores: (1) the extent to which those views align with or differ from a conceptual framework of quality research use; and (2) whether and how practitioner views can provide deeper insights into quality use of research in practice. Methods: The article draws on open-text survey (n=492) and interview (n=27) responses from Australian teachers and school leaders, which were analysed in relation to components of the Quality Use of Research Evidence (QURE) Framework. Findings: There was considerable alignment between the practitioners’ views and the QURE Framework, but greater recognition for certain enablers such as ‘skillsets’ and ‘leadership’, as compared with others, such as ‘relationships’ and ‘infrastructure’. The practitioners’ accounts provided nuanced descriptions and elaborations of different aspects of using research well. Discussion and conclusions: The findings suggest that: the QURE Framework has empirical validity as a way of conceptualising quality research use; practitioners’ views on using research well can inform future capacity building efforts; and research use as a field needs far more work that is focused on the quality of use and the perspectives of users.