Climbing the Ladder of Research Utilization

Abstract

In this article, the Knott and Wildavsky stages of knowledge utilization are considered separately and compared with the previous stage to find factors explaining why researchers are able to climb up the ladder of knowledge utilization from the echelon of no transmission to transmission, then to cognition, reference, effort, influence, and application. The results suggest that there are barriers to climbing and that these barriers are primarily located between the stage of no transmission and the stage of transmission. These results carry theoretical and policy implications that are explored in the last part of the article.