TRUTH TESTS AND UTILITY TESTS: DECISION-MAKERS' FRAMES OF REFERENCE FOR SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH*
TRUTH TESTS AND UTILITY TESTS: DECISION-MAKERS' FRAMES OF REFERENCE FOR SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH*
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真实性测试和实用性测试：决策者社会科学研究的参考框架*
DOI：
10.2307/2095127
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发表时间：
1980
影响因子：
9.1
通讯作者：
M. Bucuvalas
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
C. Weiss;M. Bucuvalas
为了对基于经验的“知识应用社会学”做出贡献，本文探讨了决策者在评估社会科学研究对其工作的有用性时所采用的参照系。对心理健康领域155位决策者对50份实际研究报告的反应进行了分析，发现了五个参照系：研究主题的相关性、研究质量、结果与预期的一致性、行动方向和对现有政策的挑战。所有框架都与感知到的使用研究的可能性呈正相关。这些框架之间的两个重要交互作用表明，从本质上讲，决策者在筛选社会科学研究时采用了“真实性检验”和“效用检验”。他们根据两个基础来判断真相：研究质量和/或与先前知识和预期的一致性。他们还在其他基础上评估效用：可行的行动方向和/或对当前政策的挑战。他们将研究结论应用到他们的工作中的方式是一个比许多早期调查人员认识到的更广泛、更分散和更广泛的过程。1949年，罗伯特·默顿呼吁对应用社会科学以及促进或阻碍其用于实际行动的因素进行系统研究。他富有启发性的分析讨论了应用社会研究的文化、组织、情景和认知背景，并指出有必要对其对研究用途的影响进行实证调查。他找出了这样的地方人
In an effort to contribute to an empirically based "sociology of knowledge application," this paper explores the frames of reference that decision-makers employ in assessing the usefulness of social science research for their work. Analysis of responses of 155 decision-makers in mental health fields to 50 actual research reports reveals five frames of reference: relevance of research topic, research quality, conformity of results with expectations, orientation to action, and challenge to existing policy. All frames are positively associated with perceived likelihood of using a study. Two significant interactions among the frames suggest that, in essence, decision-makers apply a "truth test" and a "utility test" in screening social science research. They judge truth on two bases: research quality and/or conformity with prior knowledge and expectations. They also assess utility on alternaive bases: feasible direction for action and/or challenge to current policy. The ways in which they apply research conclusions to their work is a broader, more diffuse, and wider-ranging process than many earlier investigators have recognized. In 1949, Robert Merton called for systematic study of applied social science and of the factors that facilitated or impeded its utilization for purposes of practical action. His luminous analysis discussed the cultural, organizational, situational, and cognitive contexts of applied social research and pointed to the need for empirical investigation of their implications for research use. He identified such dimen