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T h e results of student outcomes studies are of little ualue if they are not used in institutional planning and decision making. Use of results can be made more effective if researchers understand the obstacles to information use on most college campuses and tailor their presentations to overcome them.Research studies on student outcomes-or on anything else-are of limited value if decision makers do not use their results. Some obstacles to effective use of study findings are a product of the fact that student outcomes research is often complex and results are rarely as precise as the kinds of information with which most college administrators routinely deal, such as enrollments and costs. Other obstacles are a product of the institutional environment-the organizational structure, the locus of the information collection function, and the orientation of top administrators toward information. Overcoming these obstacles requires researchers to be aware of the many functions that research on student outcomes can play in the decisionmaking process. It also requires that substantial attention be paid to developing multiple, effective methods of data presentation. The purpose of this chapter is to review institutional experience in overcoming such obstacles and to illustrate a number of information use techniques that have been successful in practice.Most of the observations offered in this chapter are drawn from the experiences of seven institutions that were part of a national demonstration project on improving the use of outcomes information in decision making. Despite great variation among the mission and goals, leadership styles, and program mixes of these institutions, a number of factors were identified P. T. Ewell (Ed.). AsEcrring Educnlimol Oulcomcs. Ncw Dircctions la Institutional Research, no. 41. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, September 1985

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