Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

1. Exploring the Disconnect Between Research and Policy -- Reflections on What We Mean by Policy and Evidence-Based Policymaking -- A Promise Unfulfilled: A Historical Perspective -- What Went Wrong: Rounding Up the "Usual Suspects" -- What Makes Understanding the Science Policy Connection So Challenging? -- Summary -- 2. Do Policymakers Want Evidence? Insights From Research-Minded Policymakers -- Why Are Policymakers Interested in Receiving Research From Professionals? -- What Kinds of Information Are Most Useful to Policymakers? -- Where Do Policymakers Go to Get Information? -- How Do Policymakers Like to Get Information? -- Summary -- 3. When Researchers Delivered Evidence to Policymakers -- The Wisconsin Idea -- Models for Bringing Research to the Policy Process -- Summary -- 4. Who Are These Knowledge Producers and Knowledge Consumers Anyway? -- Evolution of a Theoretical Perspective -- Stumbling on the Importance of "Culture" to Explain Communication Breakdowns -- Toward a Multicommunity Theory of Cultural Influences -- Summary -- 5. Why Research Is Underutilized in Policymaking Community Dissonance Theory -- Exploring the Character of Community Dissonance -- Various Meanings of Research Use -- Some Elemental Concepts: Erecting the Building Blocks of a Theory of Community Dissonance -- Toward a Conceptual Framework for Thinking About Community Dissonance -- Summary -- 6. Breaking Through Stereotypes of Policymakers -- Researchers' Initial Impressions of Policymakers and How They Changed Over Time -- Unpacking How Policymakers Differ From Each Other and How Knowledge Brokers Can Leverage These Differences to Their Advantage -- Summary -- 7. What Knowledge Producers Should Know About the Policymaking Process -- Prominent Conceptualizations of the Policy Process -- When Research Meets the Policy Process: Welfare Reform and Science -- Nine Observations of the Policy Process: Obvious to Insiders, Surprising to Outsiders -- Summary -- 8. Barriers to and Rewards of Cross-Cultural Communication -- Milk for Poor Kids: An Improbable Policy Victory -- Researchers' Initial Impressions of Barriers to Working With Policymakers -- The Rewards of Relaying Research to Policymakers -- Summary -- Authors Note -- 9. Communicating With Policymakers: Insights From Policy-Minded Researchers -- What Advice Can Researchers Offer About Communicating Research to Policymakers? -- Summary -- Authors' Note -- 10. Approaching Policymakers: Moving Beyond "What" to "How" -- Differentiating the Advocacy and Education Approaches for Working With Policymakers -- Advocacy and Education Across the Ages -- Which Approach Is the Most Effective When Researchers Wade Into the Policy Community? -- Why Is the Education Approach Effective? -- Some Prominent Objections to the Education Approach -- How Can Educators Establish and Maintain a Nonpartisan Reputation? -- Summary -- Endnote -- 11. Generating Evidence on Disseminating Evidence to Policymakers / Karen Bogenschneider, Heidi Normandin, Esther Onaga and Sally Bowman -- What Is Known and Unknown About Disseminating Research to Policymakers -- Baby Steps for Evaluating Efforts to Disseminate Evidence to Policymakers -- The Family Policy Education Theory of Change -- Summary -- 12. Where Do We Go From Here? -- This Book A Small Step Forward in a Long Journey -- What Researchers Could Do and Why It Is So Hard -- Next Steps: Exploring an Action Agenda -- Summary -- The Exploratory Researcher Study -- The Exploratory Policymaker and Policy Administrator Study.

""Crossing the chasm between research and policymaking requires navigating partisan debates fueled by ideological purity amidst unseen imperatives. But rational governance is better governance. Finally, a book shows us how to get there from here."G︣ail C. Christopher, D.N., Vice President, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, USA" ""Bogenschneider and Corbett brilliantly fill a big gap in our understanding of evidence. This volume would make a fine addition to any and every serious master's or upper-level undergraduate policy course where the role of evidence in the policy process is discussed."T︣imothy M. Smeeding, Professor, and Director, Institute for Research on Poverty, UW-Madison, USA" ""Karen Bogenschneider and Tom Corbett have spent most of their careers working to bridge the gap between policymakers and policy researchers. This new hook is a monument to their wisdom and their commitment to this endeavor."S︣ara McLanahan, Professor and Endowed Chair, Princeton University, USA" ""Bogenschneider's and Corbetts expertise goes beyond understanding theory. They know how public policy works. When I need advice about ways to strengthen the relationship between higher education and public officials, I go to Karen and Tom first. This book makes a real contribution to those who want to learn about public policy."M︣ary Fairchild, National Conference of State Legislatures, USA" ""This book should be read by all who hope research can affect policy in the real world. The authors' unique experience provides insights that move the field of evidence-based policy significantly forward."M︣atthew Stagner, Ph.D., Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, USA" "This book is for those who believe that good government should be based on hard evidence, and that I research and policy ought to go hand-in-hand. Unfortunately, no such bond exists. Rather, there is a substantial gap, some say chasm, between the production of knowledge and its utilization. Despite much contrary evidence, the authors propose there is a way of doing public policy in a more reflective manner, and that a hunger for evidence and objectivity does exist." "The book is pragmatic, drawing on advice from some of the best and brightest informants from both the research and policy communities. In their own voices, researchers provide incisive analysis about how to bridge the research/policy divide, and policymakers provide insights about why they use research, what kind is most useful, where they seek it, and how they screen its quality. The book breaks through stereotypes about what policymakers are like, and provides an insider's view of how the policy process really works. Readers will learn what knowledge, skills, approaches, and attitudes are needed to take research findings from the laboratory to lawmaking bodies, and how to evaluate one's success in doing so." "The book's balance between theory and practice will appeal to students in graduate and upper-level undergraduate courses in family studies and family policy, educational policy, law, political science, public administration, public health, social work, and sociology. This book will also be of interest to researchers who want to bring their ideas into policy debate and to those who work with policymakers to advance an evidence-based policy agenda."--BOOK JACKET.