A Knowledge Mobilization Framework: Toward Evidence-Based Statistical Communication Practices in Education Research

Abstract

The evidence-based decision-making movement often assumes that once evidence is available (e.g., via the What Works Clearinghouse), decision-makers will integrate it into their practice. Research-practice partnership studies have shown this is not always true. In this paper, we argue that instead of assuming research will be useful and used, we should directly study strategies for disseminating evidence and mobilizing knowledge. We present a framework for organizing knowledge mobilization research into three facets: (1) examining norms embedded in evidence we communicate, (2) descriptively understanding how decision-makers reason about this evidence as well as their varied decision-making needs, and (3) prescriptively developing and evaluating communication strategies that facilitate better use of evidence by decision-makers. We delineate this three-faceted framework—normative, descriptive, prescriptive—and demonstrate how it considers the perspectives and priorities of both researchers and decision-makers. Focusing on a case study—of how statistical evidence is conveyed by clearinghouses—we point to existing evidence in education and other fields such as data visualization and cognitive psychology that should inform our communication practices and identify areas where further knowledge mobilization research is needed.

Keywords:

• Knowledge mobilization
• statistical cognition
• communicating evidence

Notes

1 Recent conference themes: Lost in Translation: Building Pathways from Knowledge to Action (2016); Expanding the Toolkit: Maximizing Relevance, Effectiveness and Rigor in Education Research (2017); The Evidence Behind Evidence Use: When Does Education Research Inform Practice? (2018); Tensions and Trade-offs: Responding to Diverse Demands for Evidence (2019); Practical Significance and Meaningful Effects: Learning and Communicating What Matters (2020); The Fierce Urgency of Knowledge: Education Evidence for Reimagining and Reckoning (2021).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, Multidisciplinary Program in Education Sciences [Grant Award R305B140042].