The Contribution of Longitudinal Studies for Understanding Science Communication and Research Utilization

Abstract

Any estimate of the extent and impact of communication between scientists and practitioners is fraught with methodological problems, especially for application to the social sciences. In medicine and in the natural and physical sciences, research utilization can sometimes be measured by the actual use of different techniques. But the word “utilization” implies some association to instruments and tools and, for social science research, utilization can be more complex, varying from modification (knowledge creep), nonuse, or whole use, to use of the results in a different way than the sender intended. This article describes a longitudinal, in-depth study of municipal-level environmental and health officers in Sweden, showing that there is more communication between practitioners and the world of research than other studies imply.