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PUTTING RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE …AND PRACTICE INTO RESEARCH

PUTTING RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE …AND PRACTICE INTO RESEARCH. Professor Bob Hudson, Centre for Health Services Management, University of Birmingham. RESEARCH is a BROAD CHURCH. Don’t get hung up on randomised control trials

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PUTTING RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE …AND PRACTICE INTO RESEARCH

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  1. PUTTING RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE …AND PRACTICE INTO RESEARCH Professor Bob Hudson, Centre for Health Services Management, University of Birmingham

  2. RESEARCH is a BROAD CHURCH • Don’t get hung up on randomised control trials • Impact can range from a small change in service delivery to a new paradigm • Publication could be in refereed journals or simply be an internal document • Research is not the sole prerogative of academics

  3. LEVELS of THINKING about PARTNERSHIP and INTEGRATION [1] • ‘Grand Theory’: systematic theories involving an abstract view of the components of coordination on a high level of generality • EG: market, network and hierarchy as different – but not mutually exclusive – modes of coordination • Danger of being too general to be of value to practitioners

  4. LEVELS of THINKING [2] • Empirical Studies: fact-finding with a view to seeing if joint working is effective • Countless examples across all user groups, both academic and ‘in-house’ • Danger of piling up details with insufficient attention to wider understanding • ‘social research is advanced by ideas; it is only disciplined by fact’ (C Wright Mills)

  5. LEVELS of THINKING [3] • Middle-Range Theory: concepts and propositions devised to meet the needs of a particular inquiry but with a wider relevance and application • EG: understanding ‘wicked issues’ and whole systems responses; types and levels of coordination; measuring shared working; trust • The shared task is to make connections: the capacity to shuttle between levels of abstraction

  6. The WHOLE SYSTEMS DISCUSSION PAPER • An example of the application of a ‘middle range’ theory: Benson’s model of an ‘inter-organisational network’ • Adaptation of eight dimensions of what constitutes a ‘whole system’ • A dynamic model that can capture change: more than a mere checklist of ingredients • Available for over 25 years awaiting ‘connection’

  7. The EIGHT DIMENSIONS • Domain Consensus: extent of agreement regarding the role and scope of each partner’s contribution • Ideological Consensus: extent of agreement on the nature of the tasks facing the partnership • Positive Evaluation: the extent to which those in one part of the partnership have a positive view of the contribution of those in another part • Work Coordination: the extent to which autonomous partners are prepared to align working patterns

  8. The EIGHT DIMENSIONS [2] • Fulfilment of Programme Requirements: degree of compatibility between the goals of the partnership and the goals of the individual stakeholders • Domain of High Importance: extent of support for objectives of the partnership from constituencies • Maintenance of Resource Flows: adequacy of funding for the objectives of the partnership • Defence of Organisational Paradigm: extent to which stakeholders identify with the partnership

  9. MAKING CONNECTIONS: MESSAGES for RESEARCHERS • Anchor yourself in the real world: understand the everyday dilemmas of managers and practitioners • Make the intellectual connections that you are well placed to develop • Connect across academic disciplines: get out of your own silos • ‘philosophers have only interpreted the world in different ways. The point, however, is to change it’ (Karl Marx)

  10. MAKING CONNECTIONS: MESSAGES for PRACTITIONERS • Your problem is almost certainly being faced by someone else: it is a general not a unique problem • The issues underpinning practical dilemmas are theoretical: ‘there is nothing quite so practical as a good theory’ (Albert Einstein) • All practice is based upon some theoretical assumption • What are the alternatives to an evidence-based approach?

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