Elevate the Debate

chapter oneWhy Research Needs a Big Audience

Bridget Lowell

If you're like most researchers, you question the value of communicating your work to a broader audience. It's fair to be skeptical. Maybe it seems trivial. Maybe you've been burned by a reporter who completely misunderstood your findings, despite your having spent an hour on the phone explaining them. Maybe your results got distorted by a well-meaning blogger who doesn't quite understand what a confidence interval is. Maybe your peers or department chair sneered at you for blogging or tweeting, saying your time was better spent writing for academic journals.

I get it. I've heard all these complaints, and more. My goal—and our goal throughout this book—is to demonstrate that being a successful scholar today requires that you share your insights beyond the academic community. After all, what value is your research if it doesn't connect to the very world it is trying to influence and change? Great research—whether it comes from the academic community, nonprofit research organizations, or thought leaders in business and elsewhere—needs a plan to find different and wider audiences that can expand its impact.

We will arm you with the necessary tools to translate your work on your own terms, telling the reader and user how to interpret your findings. After reading this book, you will be inspired and equipped to use traditional and digital media to your advantage, and you will never sneer—or be sneered at—again for communicating ...