In Search of Evidence

Summary and General Discussion
prerequisite for being able to critically appraise its quality. However, there is some truth
in this assertion. In my experience students indeed gain a better understanding of the
elements that determine the trustworthiness of evidence when they have first done
scientific research themselves. The confusion here lies in the term ‘scientific research’, a
term that is often associated with the research that is conducted by scientists at
prestigious academic institutions. In my view, conducting scientific research is
something everyone can do, even young children. When my nine-year old daughter
and her friends claimed they could easily taste the difference between red and green
grapes, I asked them what they thought would be the most reliable way to find out if
this was true. The first thing they suggested was blinding and randomization. Sample
size turned out to be more complicated, but, without the benefit of a proper power
analysis, the girls decided that 7 out of 10 would make a convincing case in favor of
their claim. The outcome was a big surprise: none of the girls was able to taste the
difference. I have learned that with executive MBAs you can do the same experiment,
but, in that case, it works better with wine.
Finally, it is true that people forget most of what you teach them. But it is also true
that the brain needs time to get used to new things (Carey, 2014). Evidence-based
practice challenges your existing beliefs and the way in which you carry out your
profession, and, for most people, it does not come naturally. Repeated practice leads
to a better understanding and longer overall retention, so teaching evidence-based
practice should never be a one-off occurrence, but part of ongoing professional
development. Evidence-based practice takes minutes, as the saying goes, to learn, but
a lifetime to master.
NEW DESTINATIONS — FUTURE RESEARCH
Over the years I have given numerous talks, presentations, classes, workshops, etc.,
on evidence-based practice. In all cases I have invariably started with explicitly stating
that I am a practitioner, not an academic. Now that I have completed this thesis, I still
think that this is true. Nevertheless, working on this thesis has given me an appetite
(and, I hope, aptitude) for doing research. In that sense, this thesis is not my final
destination, and, hopefully, further empirical research and professional reflections will
follow, as depicted in the figure below.
Evidence-based management is about making decisions through the use of
evidence from multiple sources. This thesis, however, mainly focuses on one source,
that is scientific evidence. It may therefore inadvertently contribute to the widely held
misconception that evidence-based practice places too great an emphasis on evidence
originating from scientific research. Partly for this reason I would like to pursue the
following future research directions.