The politics of research management: Reflections on the gap between what we ‘know’ (about SDH) and what we do

Abstract

Health researchers in a number of settings are expressing concern about the ‘gap’ between what we ‘know’ about the social determinants of health and of health inequalities, and the lack of action based upon this ‘knowledge’. Indeed, the ‘know-do gap’ has become almost a mantra echoed across international and some national institutional sites. This paper examines how the ‘problem’ of the ‘gap’ is understood and represented in dominant and sub-dominant conceptualisations. It highlights what is missing from these representations: adequate reflection on changing modes of governance of research management. Where once there was a degree of separation between research production and government policy, increasingly there is congruence between these governmental functions. This congruence means that the problem we face today is not a ‘gap’ but rather a ‘fit’ between what we ‘know’ and what we (don’t) do regarding SDH.

Key Words:

• Social determinants of health
• research utilisation
• health services research
• governance
• knowledge production
• priority setting
• sociology