Application of safety project interview data to a cyclical research model of translation

There is growing debate over the need for academic research to produce applied. For example, funding agencies, such as the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) are emphasizing direct relationships with industry, and the need to contain research methods that are targeted, useful, and mutually beneficial. Applied academic research does not always translate into successful industry practice, let alone adoption, and vice versa. Many studies have explored barriers based on either academic or industrial variables, or both. Several attempts have been made to analyze barriers and propose solutions to address the translation of applied research into practice. One previously designed model, by researchers from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and Virginia Tech, in particular, considers translation as an iterative approach to establish research-to-practice-to-research (r2p2r) as a "translational research model," creating an iterative relationship between academia and industry. While this model is currently theoretical in nature, this work proposes a process for collecting, translating and demonstrating reliability of data, along the previous r2p2r cycle, for 9 in-depth interviews of applied safety research pilot projects. Ultimately, this work is to set the stage for further insight into impediments and fragmentation between academic research and industry adoption in practice.