Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory Advance Access originally published online on April 26, 2006
Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 2007 17(1):39-60; doi:10.1093/jopart/muj013
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"Shielding" the Knowledge Transfer Process in Human Service Research
Yale University
Rutgers University
Arizona State University
Kindly address correspondence to Jocelyn Elise Crowley at jocelync{at}rci.rutgers.edu.
Knowledge utilization studies aim to understand the pathways whereby research moves from a specific set of producers to a specific set of consumers. Broadly speaking, two sets of explanations exist: (1) the engineering model, which focuses on the inevitability of science in advancing knowledge, and (2) the socio-organizational model, which stresses the importance of communication between and among groups as the critical factor in promoting utilization. This study asks both research managers at the Department of Health and Human Services and representatives from a particular set of consumer organizations to elaborate on the qualities of the research process that make knowledge most useful to them. We find that the qualities valued in both communities signal convergence around a novel third approachthe shield modelin which aspects of the original two models reinforce a powerful professional norm of objectivity that shelters the knowledge production and transmission process from external political pressures.