Center for Public Health Systems Science, Brown School, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA.
Prevention Research Center, Brown School,Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA.
Int J Health Policy Manag. 2015 Jan 9;4(2):91-8. doi: 10.15171/ijhpm.2015.13. eCollection 2015 Feb.
This paper investigates whether state legislators find testimony influential, to what extent testimony influences policy-makers' decisions, and defines the features of testimony important in affecting policy-makers' decisions.
We used a mixed method approach to analyze responses from 862 state-level legislators in the United States (U.S.). Data were collected via a phone survey from January-October, 2012. Qualitative data were analyzed using a general inductive approach and codes were designed to capture the most prevalent themes. Descriptive statistics and cross tabulations were also completed on thematic and demographic data to identify additional themes.
Most legislators, regardless of political party and other common demographics, find testimony influential, albeit with various definitions of influence. While legislators reported that testimony influenced their awareness or encouraged them to take action like conducting additional research, only 6% reported that testimony changes their vote. Among those legislators who found testimony influential, characteristics of the presenter (e.g., credibility, knowledge of the subject) were the most important aspects of testimony. Legislators also noted several characteristics of testimony content as important, including use of credible, unbiased information and data.
Findings from this study can be used by health advocates, researchers, and individuals to fine tune the delivery of materials and messages to influence policy-makers during legislative testimony. Increasing the likelihood that information from scholars will be used by policy-makers may lead to the adoption of more health policies that are informed by scientific and practice-based evidence.
本文研究了州立法者是否认为证词具有影响力、证词在何种程度上影响政策制定者的决策，并确定了影响政策制定者决策的证词特征。
我们采用混合方法分析了美国 862 名州级立法者的回应。数据于 2012 年 1 月至 10 月通过电话调查收集。定性数据采用一般归纳法进行分析，并设计了代码以捕捉最普遍的主题。还对主题和人口统计数据进行了描述性统计和交叉制表，以确定其他主题。
大多数立法者，无论党派和其他常见人口统计学特征如何，都认为证词具有影响力，尽管对影响力的定义各不相同。虽然立法者报告说证词影响了他们的意识或鼓励他们采取额外的行动，如进行额外的研究，但只有 6%的人报告说证词改变了他们的投票。在那些认为证词有影响力的立法者中，演讲者的特征（如可信度、对主题的了解）是证词最重要的方面。立法者还指出证词内容的几个特征很重要，包括使用可信、无偏见的信息和数据。
本研究的结果可被健康倡导者、研究人员和个人用来微调材料和信息的传递，以在立法证词中影响政策制定者。增加决策者使用学者信息的可能性，可能导致更多基于科学和实践证据的健康政策的通过。
