[Beyond dissemination: lessons from the interaction between researchers and decision-makers during a research project...

This paper discusses the experiences and conceptual and theoretical lessons learned during interaction between researchers, policy-makers, program beneficiaries, and other actors in a research project on social protection, health, and forced displacement in Bogotá, Colombia. The article begins by presenting the methodological approach and a description of interaction between various actors. This experience provides the basis for a conceptual discussion on the factors and determinants of research use. The article also highlights the need for taking an epistemological view beyond the positivist and rationalist underpinnings of the dominant explanations concerning interaction between researchers and decision-makers.