A Framework to Assess What Works, How, And Why

This policy brief presents an analytical framework for investigating the effects of interventions aiming to support the use of evidence for decision making. The brief describes the components of the framework and how it has been applied to guide the analysis of evidence-use cases and interventions. The objective of the analytical framework is to provide an inductive analytical tool that can be adapted and applied by all stakeholders in an evidence journey and at different stages to better understand the process and outcome of evidence use. The aim is to facilitate a structured analysis of evidence use in decision making to transfer and compare findings and lessons learnt across contexts. Having used the framework to guide the analysis of the eight case studies presented, the following key messages have been identified:

• An analytical framework for evidence use supports the design and evaluation of interventions and analysis of cases of evidence use.
• Evidence use is not a passive process and the framework provides a versatile analytical tool to guide the active intervention in and facilitation of this process.

The framework suggest three main shifts in thinking about evidence use:

1. Centring the decision makers and their demand for evidence as the starting point for evidence use.
2. Unpacking evidence use interventions by underlying mechanisms of change.
3. Conceptualising evidence use as a behaviour change.