Many AIR projects that employ knowledge translation use a definition from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for its National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR):
“Knowledge translation is a process of ensuring that new knowledge and products gained through research and development will ultimately be used to improve the lives of individuals with disabilities and further their participation in society.”
Policymakers, practitioners, and consumers often search for the most up-to-date knowledge to improve lives. Effective knowledge translation begins with refining the questions that specific audiences need answered and finding relevant research studies that answer those questions. Then AIR works closely with knowledge users to translate evidence into products that are customized for their use. They also provide technical support to apply the information toward achieving individual, practitioner, and systems change.
AIR’s mission—to generate and use rigorous evidence that contributes to a better, more equitable world—aligns closely with knowledge translation. AIR staff are global leaders in knowledge translation.
A wide range of AIR projects apply research knowledge, often benefiting people with disabilities and members of other marginalized or underserved communities. Knowledge translation requires close listening and partnership with affected communities throughout an interconnected process:
Knowledge Synthesis
Creating or identifying, vetting, and synthesizing knowledge
AIR staff play key roles within the Campbell Collaboration, an international social science research network that produces high quality, open, and policy-relevant evidence syntheses; plain language summaries; and policy briefs. The Campbell Collaboration’s Coordinating Groups are responsible for the production, scientific merit, and usefulness of Campbell publications. AIR draws on these experts to operate its own research synthesis center, the Methods of Synthesis and Integration Center, MOSAIC.
AIR also engages in careful vetting of individual research studies, housing the What Works Clearinghouse.
Knowledge Exchange
Engaging in knowledge exchange with diverse partners, including the intended knowledge users
Several AIR projects promote the exchange of research knowledge among researchers, practitioners, policymakers and/or members of the public:
- Career and Technical Education (CTE) Research Network
- The NSF ECR Hub
- The Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs (IWGYP)
Knowledge Use Strategies
Carefully tailoring outreach to those users’ needs and preferences, to make the information as useful and accessible as possible
Knowledge Translation work requires deliberate strategies to actively promote use of the knowledge once it is available. These strategies include: working with intended users to tailor dissemination to their expressed informational needs, and tailoring products and dissemination channels to their preferences.
AIR’s Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center has developed carefully vetted factsheets about traumatic brain injury (TBI). This information about TBI is being disseminated in two distinct ways, tailored to specific audiences: Native Americans, and workplaces that have employees with TBI.
