Abstract
Over the last several decades a significant capacity to produce policy research has been institutionalized across government and academe and around their borders. Diverse organizational settings and sponsors yield a wide array of forms of policy research and analysis. Yet little is known about the influence of organizational context and sponsorship on research output. Implications for knowledge accumulation and the use of research in policy-making also are uncertain. In this study a random sample of 1,291 cases of policy research and analysis from 1975–1990 and the organizational conditions surrounding their production is described. Log linear analysis suggests that organization and sponsorship are directly related to the type and breadth of research performed. A considerable range of two-way interactions link specific producer and sponsor types to characteristics of research output.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Becker, H., and Horowitz, I. (1972). Radical Politics and Sociological Research: Observations on Methodology and Ideology.American Journal of Sociology, 78: 48–67.
Deitchman, S. (1976).The Best-Laid Schemes: A Tale of Social Research and Bureaucracy, Cambridge: M.I.T. Press.
Meltsner, A. (1976).Policy Analysts in the Bureaucracy. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Merton, R. (1949). The Role of Applied Social Science in the Formation of Policy: A Research Memorandum.Philosophy of Science, 16: 161–181.
Orlans, H. (1972).The Nonprofit Research Institute: Its Origin, Operation, Problems, and Prospects. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Rogers, J. (1989). Social Science Disciplines and Policy Research: The Case of Political Science.Policy Studies Review, 9: 13–28.
Smith, B. (1966).The Rand Corporation: case Study of a Nonprofit Advisory Corporation. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Thomas, J. (1982). Federal Funding and Policing Research: The Impact of Government Sponsorship in Social Science.Knowledge: Creation, Diffusion, Utilization, 3: 339–370.
Weiss, C. (1972). The Politicization of Evaluation Research. InEvaluating Action Programs: Readings in Social Action and Education, C. Weiss (Ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Williams, W. (1971).Social Policy Research and Analysis: The Experience in the Federal Social Agencies. New York: Elsevier.
Wise, L. (1988). Academics and Entrepreneurs: Factors Affecting the Quality and Utility of Government Sponsored Research.Knowledge in Society, 1: 85–103.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
He is the author ofThe Impact of Policy Analysis (University of Pittsburgh Press) and assorted journal articles.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rogers, J.M. Organizational context, sponsorship and policy research output. Knowledge and Policy 7, 3–24 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02692813
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02692813