Methods: A systematic literature review and evaluation of the tools that are currently used to measure research utilization in nursing was undertaken in order to (1) briefly review the concept of research utilization and its meanings, (2) review the requirements of good measurement instruments, (3) review existing research utilization instruments, and (4) discuss implications and future requirements for scholarship in this field. Specifically, we included studies that narrowed our focus to the actual use of research in practice and articles that reported the development or use of an instrument.

Findings: Common problems in measuring research utilization included lack of research utilization (or other appropriate) theory, lack of construct clarity, lack of explicit measurement theory, lack of advanced psychometric assessment, a presumption of linearity in the change process, an absence of longitudinal work (neither repeated measurement or frequent use of any instrument) and several potentially influential but unacknowledged assumptions. Second, these instruments were also commonly susceptible to a number of other problems, including self-report and recall biases, social desirability biases, under-developed scaling approaches, and lack of clarity regarding the unit of analysis.

Conclusion & Implications: An inability to adequately measure research utilization calls into question studies that claim to demonstrate either its cause or its effects. Methodological advances in the research utilization field are required in order to advance the field and achieve better prerequisites to understand the implementation process of new knowledge into practice.

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Sigma Theta Tau International
July 21, 2004