Abstract:
This paper puts the relevance of research into perspective in the policy-making,
formulation and implementation context. It points out that there are differing
policy goals to sustainable development and the use of research might be vital
for one element. Although the debate on the use of research results for policy
decision-making and implementation processes is not new and its features have
changed over time, the issue has gained greater prominence in recent decades
following the major processes of world change that increasingly call for concrete
evidence to support or challenge the innovations that are implemented in a variety
of contexts, including legislative policies and systems. Viable and appropriate
policies are necessary for sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction.
Policies are made by policy makers the persons bestowed with the power, either
by citizens or a group of people in a society, to make decisions. However, research
should provide an important input in policy decision making, formulation and
implementation. It shouldn’t be taken for granted that the relationship between
research and policy is straightforward, with good research, policy design will tend
to be more relevant and their results are likely to deliverer the desired impact in the
country. Why is it that more often policy making isn’t research based? This paper
responds to the question raised by those who wonder how better use can we make
out of research in the policy-making, formulation and implementation process?
The findings point to significant gaps in the research to policy to practice pathway,
particularly in achieving sustainable development in developing countries with a
focus on policy research. A considerable part of this thinking addresses the problem
from a more traditional perspective, which regards research results as depicts the
decision-making process simplistically and linearly, and thus restricts strategies to
the suiting of the research.
