Quality use of research evidence: practitioner perspectives

Background: This article comes in response to two gaps within the research use literature: a lack of work on quality of use as distinct from quality of evidence, and a lack of research use models based on practitioner, as opposed to researcher, perspectives. Aims and objectives: The study probes into the views of education practitioners about 'using research well', and explores: (1) the extent to which those views align with or differ from a conceptual framework of quality research use; and (2) whether and how practitioner views can provide deeper insights into quality use of research in practice. Methods: The article draws on open-text survey (n=492) and interview (n=27) responses from Australian teachers and school leaders, which were analysed in relation to components of the Quality Use of Research Evidence (QURE) Framework. Findings: There was considerable alignment between the practitioners' views and the QURE Framework, but greater recognition for certain enablers such as 'skillsets' and ' leadership', as compared with others, such as 'relationships' and 'infrastructure'. The practitioners' accounts provided nuanced descriptions and elaborations of different aspects of using research well. Discussion and conclusions: The findings suggest that: the QURE Framework has empirical validity as a way of conceptualising quality research use; practitioners' views on using research well can inform future capacity building efforts; and research use as a field needs far more work that is focused on the quality of use and the perspectives of users.