Mapping the field of evidence production and use
Kathryn Oliver, Euan Adie, Annette Boaz
Abstract
Most academics are interested in how their research is used outside the academy. This means different things to different groups: perhaps trying to understand how research is measured and evaluated; how decision-makers from different backgrounds and sectors find and use evidence when making decisions studying how knowledge itself is generated; or what types of knowledge are considered valuable and credible. Ultimately, within most academic disciplines - in one form or another - there are groups of researchers who are studying how evidence is made and used. In this chapter, we discuss this broader field of inquiry, drawing on a large-scale bibliometrics study which mapped the field of evidence production and use. We use this study to identify key communities, map the terms and concepts used by different academic groups to talk about evidence production and use, and examine what this means for the study of meta-research.