Factors that impact how civil society intermediaries perceive evidence

Journal article

Civil society organisations increasingly mediate the creation and exchange of evidence in their activities with policymakers and practitioners. This paper extends knowledge on evidence in policymaking settings to civil society contexts. As an exploratory and qualitative study, it shows how nine UK-based organisations working on issues including migration and social welfare hold different perceptions of evidence and its usefulness. A range of related factors involving individuals, organisations, sectors, and issue areas emerge as contingent contributors to these variations. As a result, researchers and practitioners seeking to engage with civil society using evidence should consider context-specific values, skills, motivations, and timeliness.

Authors: Allen, W

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Policy Press
• Journal: Evidence and Policy
• Publication date: 2016-01-27
• Acceptance date: 2015-12-02
• DOI: 10.1332/17442646X14538259555968
• ISSN: 1744-2656
• Keywords: intermediaries; evidence-based research; knowledge exchange; civil society