Abstract
The knowledge use field is in a state of conceptual disarray that has contributed to problems in the dissemination and use of knowledge. Examining the nature of knowledge in a critical realist epistemology results in a reconceptualization of knowledge use from a postmodern critical theorist perspective. This theory takes as its focus the study of research, dissemination, and use as cultural structure, ritual, and ideology; and addresses concerns about knowledge use by articulating a conceptual frame-work that triangulates among issues related to knowledge construction, power and action, and ethics and ideology, as integral to any concept of knowledge and its use.
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John M. Watkins is a private consultant atInquiry and Learning for Change. His primary work is in the area of action research and critical inquiry with schools and communities.
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Watkins, J.M. A postmodern critical theory of research use. Knowledge and Policy 7, 55–77 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02696292
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02696292