Table 2 Overview of phase 2 qualitative domains

Respondent role

Open-ended

• Both: Can you tell me a little bit about your role in [agency]? What does a typical day or week look like?

Organizational context

Open-ended

• KS: Can you tell me a little bit about the [agency]’s strategic priorities?

• FLW: How much discretion do you have in your work with clients? What factors external or internal to your agency have the greatest influence on your daily work?

Evidence use

Closed-ended

• Measures of research evidence use will be drawn from one of three validated instruments: the Output scale of the Structured Interview of Evidence Use (SIEU) [102], the Evidence-Informed Practice Survey (EIPS) [103], or the Research Utilization Questionnaire (RUQ) [100, 104]. Specific measures administered will be based in part on expert panel feedback regarding topic salience and respondent burden.

Open-ended

• KS: What types of information do you use when making decisions about programs or policies? Do you view certain types of evidence as more useful to this process than others?

• FLW: What types of information or ‘evidence’ do you use when making decisions about clients? Do you view certain types of evidence as more useful to this process than others? Why or why not? What about in other aspects of your daily work?

Organizational supports for evidence use

Open-ended

• Both: To what extent does your agency value the use of evidence (particularly research evidence) in your day-to-day work? What gives you this impression?

• Both: What types of supports does your agency have in place to facilitate evidence-informed decision making? How useful do you find these supports? Why or why not? How often do you take advantage of these supports? Are there other supports or resources you wish you had access to? Why or why not?

• KS: How long have these supports been in place? What motivated your agency to invest in these supports? How effective have you found these supports at helping your agency fulfill its mission and/or accomplish its strategic priorities?

Leader facilitation of evidence use

Closed-ended

• Leadership style and effectiveness using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire Short Form (MLQ-5X) [33]

• Boundary spanning activities adapted from the National Drug Abuse Treatment System Survey [105, 106]

Open-ended

• KS: Can you provide an example of any actions you have taken to promote evidence use by staff?

• Both: To what extent do leaders at your agency value the use of evidence in your daily work? What gives you this impression?

Respondent characteristics

Closed-ended

• Respondents’ training, knowledge, and skills in using research; specific measures will be drawn from previous studies of research use in the health care sector [64, 107]

• Basic demographics (age, gender, race/ethnicity)