Michele Ferguson

Are policy-makers interested in social research? Exploring the sources and uses of valued information among public servants in Australia

Abstract This article explores the use of research and expertise within a selection of government agencies at state and federal levels in Australia. A recent survey of public officials provides new data on the reported use of evidence and expertise sourced from within the public service and from external sources. The survey instrument targeted the policy, program and evaluation staff in human service agencies and central policy coordination agencies. The survey findings provide new information on public servants’ policy skills and organisational context, their attitudes to non-government sources of expert evidence and knowledge, and their perceptions of the relevance of academic social research. Data are reported on the relative importance assigned by public officials in state and federal agencies to various sources of expert information. Factors that hinder and facilitate the uptake of external research by policy-related officials are canvassed, with special attention to organisational cultures and practices. Some similarities and differences between types of agencies are noted, especially those between state-level and federal agencies. The broader political context of policy work is also highlighted.

Perspectives of academic social scientists on knowledge transfer and research collaborations: a cross-sectional survey of Australian academics

This paper reports results from a survey of academic social scientists in Australian universities on their research engagement experience with industry and government partners and end-users of research. The results highlight that while academics report a range of benefits arising from research collaborations,there are also significant impediments to research translation and uptake, including organisational processes within universities. Using the scale of research utilisation, we examine research transfer and uptake and explore a range of variables to understand factors influencing the use of academic social science research by policy makers and practitioners.

Research Utilization in the Social Sciences: A Comparison of Five Academic Disciplines in Australia

Social science disciplines generate diverse forms of research utilization, given the various contexts in which disciplinary knowledge is produced and translated for the fields of policy and practice. We examine this issue from the perspective of academic researchers in the social sciences across education, economics, sociology, political science, and psychology. We use survey data from a study of university-based social science researchers in Australia to examine factors that influence perceptions of the policy uptake of social research. Our results show that disciplinary and methodological context matters when it comes to understanding the translation, dissemination, and utilization of academic social research.

Reducing work-to-life interference in the public service: The importance of participative management as mediated by other work attributes

Research suggests an association between participative management and lower work-to-life interference. We extend these findings to the public sector and examine possible pathways which link them, hypothesizing that participative management reduces work-to-life interference through its impact on other work attributes. Using a survey of public sector employees in Queensland, Australia and structural equation modelling, the results show that participatory management consistently reduces work-to-life interference via a number of pathways: by increasing flexibility of work hours, increasing meaningful work, reducing workload, and reducing work uncertainty. Although females with dependents work fewer hours on average, they are still more likely to have higher work-to-life interference. Overall, however, the main way participative management can reduce work-to-life interference is by reducing workloads. Participative management is normally employed to increase organizational efficiency and effectiveness; however, it can also reduce work-to-life interferences for its employees and thus assist an organization in meeting its social responsibility obligations.

Use of academic social research by public officials: exploring preferences and constraints that impact on research use

While academics can do more to communicate the key messages of their research, the organisational cultures and information infrastructure of policy-related work units also play a large part in influencing the extent of research uptake in government agencies. Data from a large Australian survey (N 2084) of policy-related officials in government agencies is examined to provide insights into how certain preferences, constraints and organisational factors influence the ways in which policy personnel seek out and use academic social research.

The utilisation of social science research – the perspectives of academic researchers in Australia

This article reports results from a survey of academic social scientists in Australian universities on reported levels of research utilisation by non-academic users. Using the scale of research utilisation we examine levels of research impact and explore a range of variables to understand factors influencing the use of academic social science research by policy-makers and practitioners. The results indicate that research uptake is enhanced through mechanisms that improve research transfer and the intensity of interactions between academic researchers and users. Our findings provide insights into how the impact of social science research can be improved and draws attention to factors that need to be considered in efforts to evaluate and enhance the impact of academic social research.