13 pages., Via online journal., Based on research-to-policy narratives provided by UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE) academics, we argue that current, effective Cooperative Extension (Extension) practices support a broader, more convincing account of Extension's public value than its leaders often articulate. This proposed account incorporates the familiar Extension narrative in which technical expertise and objectivity are emphasized. It also incorporates the insight, derived from our data, that Extension can achieve its greatest relevance in policy circles when it weaves together its ability to provide trustworthy technical knowledge with its capacity to influence policy dialogue, debate and practice across multiple settings and over the long term. In a policy world often marked by short-term thinking and polarization, Extension's ability to foster deliberative, context-sensitive and future-oriented policymaking is a critical contribution to society. Interview data reveals three approaches to effective policy-oriented relationship building: community-government partnership building; stakeholder-oriented experimental research; and community empowerment. Understanding these approaches can help reframe the story that we in the Extension system tell ourselves and the public about the public value we create.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 175 Document Number: C29956
Notes:
Presented at the European Science Foundation Seminar, "Quality and comparativity of measures for constructs in comparative research: methods and applications," Bolzano, Italy, June 12, 2009. 20 pages.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 133 Document Number: D11400
Notes:
4 pages., Online via website., Results of a national survey among U.S. adults indicated: "A majority of Americans are skeptical of the impact that industry funding has on scientific research and on the recommendations made by practitioners ... The public is somewhat more positive - though still ambivalent - about the effects of government funding on research and practitioner recommendations."
Whitford, Fred (author), Feinberg, Richard (author), Mysz, Amy (author), Rowan, Katherine (author), Earl, Robert (author), Doering, Otto (author), Neltner, Thomas (author), and Blessing, Arlene (author)
Format:
Publication
Publication Date:
2001-11
Published:
USA: Cooperative Extension Service, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 141 Document Number: D06183
