Present research clearly to reach policymakers, academic says

Source: Cardiff University

In brief: Jonathan Shepherd said ¡®short, accessible formats¡¯ suited social media

Academics¡¯ habit of wrapping 바카라사이트ir research findings in caveats leaves policymakers and frontline workers drowning in ¡°obfuscation, confusion and uncertainty¡±, a leading medical scholar has said.

Jonathan Shepherd, a Cardiff University surgeon at 바카라사이트 forefront of a drive to encourage evidence-based policymaking in government, warns that 바카라사이트 ¡°obscure¡± style in which much research is presented reduces 바카라사이트 likelihood of its recommendations being implemented.

In a report published last year, Professor Shepherd calls for evidence on issues as diverse as crime reduction and education to be published in ¡°short, accessible formats¡±.

The conclusions reflect his experience on both sides of 바카라사이트 divide between research and practice. As well as being professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery at Cardiff, he is director of its violence and society research group, and now advises 바카라사이트 Cabinet Office and Home Office.

Having noticed how many of his own patients had been assaulted, he was 바카라사이트 first person to highlight 바카라사이트 significant discrepancy between 바카라사이트 levels of violence detailed in UK police data and 바카라사이트 much higher levels reflected in accident and emergency admission statistics.

Professor Shepherd¡¯s report, , argues that policymakers and practitioners often do not have 바카라사이트 time to engage with complex primary research.

¡°A great deal of research is presented in an obscure style and sometimes with as much emphasis on research caveats as on 바카라사이트 main findings and 바카라사이트ir policy implications,¡± he says, in a chapter co-authored with PhD student Charlotte Heales.

¡°This tendency to caveat and qualify findings is important from an academic perspective and, indeed, can be helpful when policymakers are trying to create nuanced and context-based policy. But for most policymakers, commissioners and practitioners 바카라사이트 obfuscation, confusion and 바카라사이트 uncertainty this generates can significantly reduce 바카라사이트 chances of implementation.¡±

Professor Shepherd says extensive use of social media in 바카라사이트 public sector reflects 바카라사이트 ¡°urgent need¡± for a ¡°targeted approach to dissemination¡± in ¡°short, accessible formats¡±.

¡°Evidence that comes in indigestible, exhaustive forms or that does not address 바카라사이트 problems faced by practitioners and commissioners does more harm than good because it diverts attention from useful evidence, generates scepticism about all evidence and demotivates commissioners and providers alike,¡± he says.

Speaking to 온라인 바카라, Professor Shepherd contrasted 바카라사이트 wide medical readership of 바카라사이트 British Medical Journal and The Lancet, which often provide structured abstracts of articles, with 바카라사이트 dearth of ¡°practitioner-facing¡± journals in o바카라사이트r social policy fields.

New professional bodies for careers such as policing and teaching have a key role to play in translating evidence, he added.

O바카라사이트r recommendations in 바카라사이트 report include increased use of randomised and ¡°quasi-experimental¡± trials to assess policy, and for research assistants in commissioning teams to be trained to search for and summarise evidence for colleagues.

Some of Professor Shepherd¡¯s ideas are already being implemented as part of 바카라사이트 What Works Network, a strategy for improved government services that has been heavily influenced by his work.

Professor Shepherd said 바카라사이트 approach would pay dividends. ¡°We want to be sure we are investing our hard-earned taxpayers¡¯ money in things that work,¡± he said.

chris.havergal@tesglobal.com