EVIDENCE-BASED POLICYMAKING IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: BRIDGING RESEARCH AND PRACTICE FOR BETTER OUTCOMES

Abstract

Evidence-based policymaking (EBPM) had increasingly been recognized as a vital approach to improving governance, yet its practical implementation remained inconsistent across contexts. Policymakers often faced systemic barriers such as time constraints, limited access to research, and political pressures that hindered the systematic use of evidence in decision-making. The aim of this study was to examine the barriers and facilitators of EBPM and to assess how policymakers engaged with research in practice. The research specifically sought to identify institutional, organizational, and relational factors that shaped evidence use. A mixed-methods design was employed, combining quantitative surveys with policymakers (n = 150) and qualitative semi-structured interviews (n = 20). Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, while thematic analysis was used to interpret qualitative responses. The results revealed that policymakers relied more heavily on internal government data and expert consultation than on academic research. Barriers included limited technical capacity, insufficient institutional support, and competing political agendas. Facilitators included trust-based collaboration with researchers, effective communication strategies, and supportive organizational cultures. The study concluded that EBPM required more than access to evidence; it depended on institutional arrangements, political will, and sustained researcher–policymaker relationships. Future directions include exploring digital innovations such as artificial intelligence and big data analytics to enhance evidence translation, as well as conducting comparative and longitudinal studies to evaluate long-term outcomes of EBPM.