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Section 2 Key principles of quality in research and consultation

2.02 Adopt a utilisation focus to research

The main principle underlying quality in research and consultation is that the research design must be led by purpose and use. It is essential that the purposes of the research and how the findings will be used are clear.

Utilisation-focused research (UFR) is a process that considers how everything that is done as part of the research and consultation exercise will affect how the findings are used(1). The focus on use is very specific; it is about how findings can be used in an applied and practical way and this focus should be treated as the lens through which to view and guide the planning and implementation of all stages of the research.

UFR requires that the intended users of the research are identified; users may include both primary users who have a major stake in the research and secondary users who have a more peripheral interest. UFR also requires negotiation over the extent to which the interests of all users can be accommodated within the available resources. Clear, negotiated agreement should be reached about the uses of the research and consultation findings and this should include a close scrutiny of how the decisions taken about research design will affect intended use.

UFR enables the development of robust, relevant research questions: clear identification of who should be researched and under what circumstances and the most appropriate research methods through which to gather information.

Practice point

• Research and consultation should be designed to support and achieve the intended use by the primary and secondary users.

Whilst the UFR approach is relevant to all research and consultation, the section on planning and designing useful surveys develops the UFR approach further.

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(1) This is based on the ideas of utilisation-focused evaluation.

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