Linkage Between Researchers and Practitioners: A Qualitative Study

Work in the area of research utilization has emphasized the importance of contacts between researchers and practitioners not only at the close of a study, but also before and, above all, during its conduct. These contacts have a strong influence on the impact of apiece of research on practitioners. More important, however, is the finding that, in settings in which educational researchers and practitioners have had few previous interactions, intensified contacts in the life of a research project can result not only in applications of the main findings, but also in the establishment of multiple areas of collaboration between the two parties that transcend the impact of a single study.