Accelerating Research Use in Courts (ARC)

Overview

Measuring the use of research evidence within organizations and systems is a rapidly growing area of study in the social sciences as researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in a variety of systems try to bridge the research-to-practice gap. With growing calls for justice systems, especially juvenile justice systems, to integrate developmental and behavioral health science within all aspects of the justice process, it is critical to develop a standardized measure of how individuals use research evidence within these systems. This will allow researchers to examine how research is used across studies, sites, and points in time, as well as to refine and compare new interventions aimed at increasing the use of research. The UW CoLab research team is therefore developing and validating a measure of research use with the help of research use and systems experts from across the country.

Study Goal

The study will develop and test a new tool for measuring the use of research evidence in a sample of juvenile court leaders across multiple states.

Funding

This study is funded by the William T. Grant Foundation.

Relevant Publications