SAGE Journal Articles

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Journal Article 1: MacKenzie, C. A., Christensen, J., & Turner, S. (2013). Advocating beyond the academy: Dilemmas of communicating relevant research results. Qualitative Research, 15(1), 105-121.

Abstract: Drawing from experiences in Northern Indigenous Canada, Uganda, and Vietnam, we discuss the challenges encountered while trying to communicate relevant results to local communities with whom we work. Wavering between participatory and advocacy research, we explore how we grapple with finding the right audience with whom to share results, our attempts to craft communication to be relevant within specific contexts, and dilemmas over self-censorship. We also document our struggles to manage our own expectations and those of the communities with whom we work regarding the ability of our research to broker change. This article emerged from our frustration at wanting to be accountable to our interviewee communities, but finding few academic articles that go beyond ideals to examine how researchers often struggle to meet these expectations. While participatory approaches are increasingly mainstreamed in social science work, we argue that advocacy research can be a more appropriate response to community needs in certain cases

Journal Article 2: Markides, C. (2010). Crossing the chasm: How to convert relevant research into managerially useful research. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 47(1), 121-134.

Abstract: There is growing concern within the Academy of Management that a big and growing gap exists between management research and practice. The persistence of this gap is a mystery! Over the past 20 years, literally hundreds of ideas have been proposed to close it. Yet nothing seems to work and according to some, the gap continues to grow. Why is that? Is it that all the ideas proposed are bad or are we simply guilty of not implementing our own ideas in a manifestation of the “knowledge--doing gap”? In this article, the author proposes that a much more serious issue may be at work. Specifically, the author argues that our research is (sufficiently) relevant but still not what our customers (i.e., the managers) want or need. The gap that exists is not between rigorous and relevant research; it is between relevant and useful knowledge. For our (relevant) research to become managerially useful, it still needs to go through a transformation. Unfortunately, academics are not good at this transformation process. This has a serious implication on what we actually need to do to make our research more managerially useful.

Journal Article 3: Milbrath, L. W. (2016). Policy relevant quality of life research. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 444(1), 32-45.

Abstract: Objective indicators, particularly economic indicators, are inadequate for inferring quality of life (Q. of L.); they must be supplemented by subjective indicators. A strategy is proposed for developing policy relevant Q. of L. research that includes: developing a conceptual analytical map of human needs, utilizing both subjective and objective indicators, selecting diverse communities to study, ascertaining lifestyle preferences, emphasizing environmental factors, comparing Q. of L. across national cultures, using Q. of L. data to study social structures. The paper concludes with some specific suggestions for using Q. of L. research in policymaking to: identify predicaments, provide value weightings, infer prospective project impacts, assess project outcomes, test limits of inferences from objective to subjective indicators, suggest alternate lifestyles, alert leaders to growing disaffection.