The Role of Information in the Policy Process: Implications for the Examination of Research Utilization in Higher Education Policy

Abstract

To what extent do policymakers rely on research evidence during the legisla-tive process? Do they use research to shape policy or merely to reinforce their preferred solutions? What are their preferred sources of evidence? Are policy advocates providing useful information? We know surprisingly little about these questions, especially given the mounting evidence and experience with varied edu-cation policies. Yet, the extent to which states rely on research evidence to craft policy remains under-studied. The need to connect research with policy and practice remains one of the most commonly identified challenges for education researchers. 1 For instance, the theme of the 2008 Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) Annual Conference " Research and Practice: Embracing Connections " encouraged papers aimed at bridging this divide. The past two ASHE Presidential Addresses have reflected on the impact of research on campus-level practice in the dean's office (Eisenmann, 2009) and on state-level policymaking (Johnsrud, 2008). Indeed, this has been a recurring charge to higher education researchers from Patrick Terenzini's (1996) ASHE Presidential Address which urged a stronger link between public pol-icy and higher education and from David Leslie and Joseph Beckham's (1986) edited special issue of The Review of Higher Education related to the relevance of higher education research. 2 As Jim Hearn (1997) points out, eminent scholars of higher education have colorfully described our field's research as " trees without fruit " (Keller, 1985) and " shipyards in the desert " (Weiner, 1986) for its disconnect with what policymakers and practitioners consider useful. Adriana Kezar's (2000) more recent appraisal of higher education research, which focuses exclusively on research-to-practice, confirms this divide yet suggests that this gap may be based on a false dichotomy between theory and practice that can be traversed more eas-ily than it appears. Can the research-to-policy divide be traversed as easily? Many studies on the topic suggest that it cannot based on fundamental differences in lan-guage, norms, and values between " policy makers and policy scholars " (Birnbaum, 2000) and between the " two cultures " of science and government (Snow, 1961).