EXAMINATION OF TECHNIQUES TO ENHANCE THE UTILIZATION OF RESEARCH RESULTS

During the past several years, transportation problems have become increasingly more severe in spite of a growing effort to expand the state of knowledge in transportation. A considerable amount of quality research is conducted, but there appears to be a breakdown in the process of transferring these research results into practice. Much effort is devoted to the conduct of research; however, in many cases, the process of implementation and research utilization are ignored. This paper examines the however, in many cases, the process of implementation and research utilization are ignored. This paper examines the research process and emphasizes major problem areas that hamper implementation within this process. Several barriers to the implementation of research results are identified and discussed. Attention then turns to the results of a study of the characteristics of transportation research conducted at universities and funded by the Urban Mass Transportation Administration program of University Research and Training. On the basis of the results of this study and a review of the literature, eight basic principles relevant to the process of research implementation are presented in conjunction with mechanisms for increasing the level of implementation. These principles demonstrate a need for greater communication between researcher and user and a need for the users of research to become involved in all phases of the research process. (Author)