Glossary
Activities - The action steps, tasks, procedures, and services performed in conjunction with implementing your planned program of public awareness, technical assistance and training, outreach and interagency coordination to carry out objectives and produce results.
Change in Practice - A difference or shift in perceptions or behaviors that occurs due to the utilization of NIDRR-supported research results and related research information/results. Such changes can be measured within service provision/intervention, day-to-day living, or other practice/behavior contexts.
Collaboration - Cooperative activities with one or more institutions of higher education, one or more providers of rehabilitation or other appropriate services, and other local, State, regional, and national programs and organizations developing or delivering rehabilitation services and technology. Activities include providing information to individuals with disabilities and their parents, family members, guardians, advocates or authorized representatives to increase awareness and understanding of how rehabilitation technology can address their needs, and increasing awareness and understanding of their range of options, programs, services, and resources available, including financing options for the technology and services covered by the subject area focus of the center. (Authority: Section 204 (b) (3) and (c); 29, U.S.C. 761(b) (3) and (c))
Consumers - Non-researcher target audiences and systems. These audiences are not exclusive to people with disabilities and can include the families of people with disabilities, disability advocacy organizations, policymakers, etc. Consumers benefit from research findings in terms of services received/provided, legislation enacted, and progress toward building awareness and changing attitudes regarding living with disabilities.
Demonstration - Results derived from previous research, testing, or practice to determine the effectiveness of a new strategy approach. (Authority: Section 202; 29, U.S.C. 761a)
Development - Understanding gained from research to create materials, devices, systems or methods beneficial to the target population, including design and development of prototypes and processes. (Authority: Section 202; 29, U.S.C. 761a)
Disability - A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. (,29 U.S.C. 706 (8)(B): Section 7(8)(b))
Dissemination - The systematic distribution of information or knowledge through a variety of ways to potential beneficiaries. (Authority: Section 202; 29, U.S.C. 761a); The purpose of a dissemination activity is to assure that information/knowledge is useful in reaching decisions, making changes, or taking specific action and is available to those who can most benefit from it.
Dissemination Plan - A strategic structure intended to guide the dissemination of research findings according to elements such as goals, objectives, users, content, source, and medium. Dissemination plans should be conceptualized at the beginning of a project's research activities in order to promote measurable utilization by the intended recipients.
Impact - Broad, societal level changes or improvements that typically occur beyond the immediate influence of program activities. Given their scope, they fall outside of NIDRR's concept of "accountability for results."
Individual with a Disability - An individual who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the individual's major life activities. (Authority: Section 7(8)(B); 29 U.S.C. 706 (8)(B))
Individual with a Severe Disability - An individual with a disability who has a severe impairment that seriously limits one or more functional capacities such as mobility, communication, self-care, self-direction, interpersonal skills, work tolerance, or work skills in terms of an employment outcome. (Authority: Section 7(15) (C); 29 U.S.C. 706 (15) (C))
Inputs - The human and financial resources and systems needed to conduct a high quality, outcomes-oriented program or project. They include but are not limited to agency priorities and requirements, host institutional support and leveraging, staff competencies and expertise, management practices and evaluation plans, partnerships and collaborations, and previous accomplishments.
Intermediate Outcomes - The expected or actual changes or improvements that occur in part as a result of the use or adoption of program outputs. Unlike short-term outcomes which occur under the direct influence of program activities, there may be other causal factors contributing to the achievement of intermediate outcomes.
Knowledge Translation - The collaborative and systematic review, assessment, identification, aggregation, and practical application of high-quality disability and rehabilitation research by key stakeholders (i.e., consumers, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers) for the purpose of improving the lives of individuals with disabilities.
Logic Model - A graphic representation or "blueprint" of the key elements of a program or project and how they will work under certain conditions to "solve" unidentified problems. A tool depicting the "chain of events" that link inputs and activities to outcomes.
Long-term Outcomes - The desired end-results of a program. They constitute changes or improvements in the overall condition of a population or system. Given their scope, long-term outcomes usually take more than one funding cycle to achieve and are therefore not included under NIDRR's concept of "accountability for results."
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) - NIDRR is one of three components of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) at the U.S. Department of Education. NIDRR generates, disseminates and promotes new knowledge to improve the options available to persons with disabilities. In addition, the agency's work helps to integrate disability research into our nation's policies regarding science and technology, health care, and economics.
Outcomes - The anticipated or actual effects of program activities and outputs. They constitute changes or improvements in the target populations being served or the target systems being affected. Outcomes are separated into 3 groups: short-term, intermediate, and long-term.
Outputs - The direct results of program activities. Outputs consist of the findings or conclusions, products, and services produced or reported to external audiences, and their assessed usefulness to end-users. They are important indicators of productivity and are the essential building blocks of outcomes.
Performance Period - The period for which funds have been awarded. For NIDDR grantees, the performance period is the 12-month period from the start/beginning of the project activities, which typically coincides with the project start date, to the end of that 12-month period when the performance report is due for NIDRR review.
Presentations - Opportunities for participation in the development of professional presentations and publications, and for attendance at professional conferences and meetings as appropriate for the individual's field of study and level of experience (e.g., colloquia, forums, summer institutes, meetings/national meetings, workshops). (Authority: Section 202 (K); 29, U.S.C. 761a (k)); Types of presentations include conferences, lectures, symposia, and training programs.
Publications (Non-Peer Reviewed) - These include: 1) Research reports (concept papers, conference proceedings, dissertations, technical briefs, trade journals, working papers); 2) Project Publications (training or curricular materials or other substantive documents, not including bulletins/fact sheets/newsletters); 3) Consumer publications; 4) Curricula (guides, handbooks, manuals, source books); 5) Descriptive materials (booklets, bulletins, fact sheets, national registry, newsletters, resource directories); 6) Other (book reviews, editorials, magazine articles).
Publications (Peer Reviewed) - These include: 1) Journal articles/full-length papers/monographs/special editions of journals; 2) Short papers/technical notes/letters/abstracts; 3) Books/book chapters (includes textbooks/anthologies); 4) Conference papers.
Research Utilization Awards - Financial supports available to NIDRR grantees who demonstrate innovative utilization models beyond their scope of work. Research Utilization Award applications submitted to RUSH are reviewed by the RUSH National Research Utilization Review Panel.
Short-term Outcomes - The expected or actual changes or improvements in the identified target system. Short-term outcomes are under the direct influence of project activities. They represent the first level of change that must occur in order to bring about intermediate outcomes and are typically focused on changes or improvements in learning, awareness, and knowledge.
Target System(s) - The group of individuals, organizations, or other entities expected to be affected by a project. Target systems are specific, realistically measurable consumer audiences in which the group, the commonalities bonding the group, and the context within which the group exists are all defined within a project's scope of work.
Technical Assistance - Providing expertise or information for use in problem solving. (Authority: Section 202; 29 U.S.C. 761a); Such informational support and training are available through RUSH to help NIDRR-sponsored projects envision research utilization and plan for utilization measurement.
Training Programs - Planned and systematic sequence of supervised instruction that is designed to impart predetermined skills and knowledge. (Authority: Section 202; 29 U.S.C. 761a)
Utilization - In carrying out a utilization activity, a grantee must relate research findings to practical applications in planning, policy making, program administration, and delivery of services to individuals with disabilities. (Authority: Section 202; 29 U.S.C. 761a)
Utilization Measurement - The process of gauging the extent to which a project's research has been utilized. The measurement of utilization outcomes requires the collection of data and is sometimes called impact analysis. Measurement is most effective through the consideration of desired outcomes, methods of data collection, and conceptualization of how to evaluate project data and outcomes at the beginning of a project.
Utilization Model - A strategic framework implemented to produce utilization outcomes. Utilization models focus on areas of disability research, specific NIDRR-sponsored research findings for utilization, nature of utilization prerequisites, and proximity of utilization.
Variables - Those aspects of research which are unique between projects. Variables can be represented many different ways, including the number of people on staff, available financial resources, the type of research being conducted, the intended target audience, etc.
