Professor Huw Davies

1. Outgoing Director Social Dimensions of Health Institute (SDHI) Universities of Dundee & St Andrews Professor Huw Davies Director Knowledge Mobilisation Using evidence for improving services

2. High quality, user-driven research production Effective mobilisation of the knowledge created Building the absorptive capacity of the system to use knowledge CEO

3. The challenge for all of us in the knowledge business… “Yes, it’s quite a noise – but are we having any impact?”

4. Knowledge creation Knowledge validation Knowledge dissemination Knowledge adoption Knowledge Production/Use The traditional linear model: Researchers Users ‘KT’ Research priorities --- THE PROBLEM WITH THIS MODEL --- Too - simple, rational, linear, uni-directional, individualised, unproblematised, asocial, and acontextual (otherwise, OK…)

5. So, what IS Research EVIDENCE? For some, research evidence = “what works” data i.e. Systematic reviews (and meta-analysis) of (preferably, double-blind, randomised control) evaluations -- or the next best thing that’s available. • Instrumentalist knowledge: making choices • Quality assessment based mainly on methodological considerations • Simple technical task of data integration

6. Broader sense of ‘social research’ – i.e. any systematic process of critical empirical investigation and evaluation, theory building, analysis and codification relevant to our organisational world… (AND it’s not just academic researchersthat do this kind of thing anyway…)

7. Research & evaluation reports Audit & inspection findings/data Routine monitoring data/KPIs Local & international exemplars Costings data Client & user experience data Expert views & insider knowledge Opinion polls & stakeholder consults System capacity & implementation issues Models & forecasts Robust knowledge wider than ‘research’… • Challenge of accessing and integrating across… • Who has – perspective? skills? tools? authority?

8. Knowledge required for effective services is much broader than simply “what works” • Know-about (problems): e.g. thenature, formation, natural history and interrelations of health and social problems… • Know-why: explaining the relationship between values and policy/practice… • Know-how (to put into practice): e.g. pragmatic knowledge about serviceand programme implementation… • Know-who (to involve): e.g. service team composition; building alliances for action… • Enlightenment knowledge problematising, re-framing… • Methodological pluralism contentiousness • Engagement with valuespolitics

9. Challenge of integrating “knowledge” Research Evidence  Knowledge - very uncertain process; engages with values, existing (tacit) knowledge, and experience… - socially and contextually situated… - may require some difficult ‘unlearning’. And, not just what knowledge/evidence, but crucially, whoseknowledge/evidence? - ‘evidence’ may be used selectively/tactically - knowledge/power intimately co-constructed • Significant limits to stable acontextual knowledge creation

10. Key message for social research: Social and interactive models – models that integrate knowledge creation and use – these better reflect what actually happens… Thus recognising: • importance of dialogue in context; • interaction with other types of knowledge (tacit; experiential); • knowledge ‘use’ as ongoing process. …moving us away from ideas such as research as “answers”, “packaged knowledge”, and “doing knowledge transfer”.

11. Social and interactive models… - these challenge us to develop and sustain some unusual interactions!