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OCR for page 14
Guidebook
9
The Communication Process
2
Chapter
The Communication Process
Communication can be a powerful means to Communicating value, or worth, is more than
further your research agenda. Without it, your providing numbers, as in benefit-cost formulas.
research may have little influence on public Decision makers frequently assess value in
policy, provide fewer overall public benefits, and terms of how they perceive the importance
decrease support for future research. Successfully and worthiness of the research outcomes. The
communicating the value of your research invisible, intangible perceptions they form and
generally leads to some sort of action, such as will remember can mean the difference between
building support for or a better understanding funding a transportation research program or
of the research. This result in turn can open the project or cutting it.
door to new or additional funding and lead to
the adoption of new technologies, designs, and
structures in transportation engineering and "Successful communication
construction projects.
sends the right message in the
What does "value" mean? Definitions include right medium. It also uses the
"worth," "desirability," and "a suitable equivalent for appropriate messenger to deliver
something else." Transportation research is often
considered valuable when the result is perceived the message to the proper audience."
to be worth an amount equal to or greater than
the funds spent on it--the return on investment.
Therefore, a key step in communicating the value You can inform and influence these perceptions
of your research is helping your audience grasp with a skillfully applied communication process or
this exchange. plan. The challenge is in anticipating, interpreting,
and describing the social benefits that may come
Communicating value means helping from your research results--the real value of
transportation research--in ways that resonate
your audience realize the benefit of your
with your audience.
research and return on investment.
Research Investment
=
Value + Benefit
