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The Complexity of Evidence: Reflections on Research Utilisation in a Heavily Politicised Policy Area

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 December 2009

Mark Monaghan
Mark Monaghan*
Affiliation:
Lecturer in Sociology/Social Policy and Crime, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds E-mail: m.p.monaghan@leeds.ac.uk
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Abstract

Exploring evidence utilisation in a heavily politicised policy area, this paper suggests that established models of research utilisation provide inadequate grounds to conceptualise the evidence and policy relationship in this context. This is because they operate at too high a level of abstraction and have a narrow understanding of the association. Using recent developments in UK drug classification policy as a case study, a newer ‘processual model’ is (tentatively) advocated. This highlights the complexity and nuance of the policy process and its accompanying use of evidence which, it is claimed, more accurately depicts the evidence and policy relationship in this particular scenario.

Type
Articles
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , January 2010 , pp. 1 - 12
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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