OVERALL PATTERNS OF VIEWS ON EVIDENCE

This session reviews methods, sample frames, data collection, factor analytic approaches to quantitative data, and content analysis of the qualitative data. Preliminary work suggests that views about what increases trust in evidence, the credibility of evidence derived from different study designs and ratings on the adequacy of evidence to guide one’s work are associated with disciplinary clusters. We will describe respondents’ views, contrasting those who primarily conduct research with those who primarily teach, those who do any clinical work, and those who make policy or programmatic decisions. Preliminary qualitative analyses found contrasting views about the merits of quantitative and qualitative work, the value of theory-testing versus discovery through observation; advantages versus limitations of RCTs; the sufficiency or insufficiency of evidence for practice and policy decisions; and distinctions between evidence of no effect and no effect of evidence.