How to Maximize Utilization of Evaluation Research by Policymakers

To conduct evaluation research and prepare reports that are most likely to be utilized by policymakers, one must understand the policymakers' perception of research and researchers. Policymakers believe it is their job to carry out their constituents' demands regardless of the results of evaluation research—only one contending judgment among many desiderata. The quality of the research is extraneous to making decisions. The more complex the evaluation, the more jargon, the more equivocal the conclusions, the more caveats in the preamble, the more sensitive the issue, the more complex the writing, the more obscure the evaluator, the more apt that the report will be discarded by policymakers and legislators. Their attitude mandates reporting that focuses on findings critical to policy issues, presents jargon-free findings concisely and clearly, avoids making recommendations, and relegates discussions of methodology to the appendix.