title: Unpacking knowledge translation in participatory research: a micro-level study.
abstract: Funding bodies, policy makers, researchers and clinicians are seeking strategies to increase the translation of knowledge between research and practice. Participatory research encompasses a range of approaches for clinicians' involvement in research in the hope of increasing the relevance and usability of research. Our aim was to explore how knowledge is translated and integrated in participants' presentations and negotiations about knowledge.
  
  
  
  Twelve collaboration meetings were observed, and discussions between researchers and clinicians were recorded. The material was examined using the following analytical terms: knowledge object, knowledge form, knowledge position and knowledge tasks.
  
  
  
  We identified a recurring rhetorical pattern in translational processes that we call 'relevance testing': a strategy by which the participants attempt to create coherence and identify relevance across different contexts. The limitation of this translational strategy was a tendency to reinforce a 'two-communities' logic: re-establishing the separated worlds and rationales between clinicians and researchers. The 'translational work' that unfolds during discussions remains implicit. It may be that participants are unable to explicitly address and identify the knowledge translation processes because they lack necessary conceptual tools.
  
  
  
  Our results contribute to increased awareness about translational processes and provide a language through which barriers to translation can be addressed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway ida.lillehagen@medisin.uio.no.
authors.forename: Ida
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lillehagen
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Heggen
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Eivind
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Engebretsen
mesh_terms: D000288:Administrative Personnel; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D010358:Patient Participation; D011050:Policy Making; D012108:Research Personnel; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical
keywords: knowledge translation; participatory research; science studies