The Sea of Jargon

It is widely recognized that the field of KMb has so many terms that are used interchangeably within the field, which are illustrated in the graphic above. This can complicate things as different fields use different types of terminology to talk about the overall process. For example, ‘knowledge translation’ is often time used in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields, while ‘knowledge mobilization’ is used in the social sciences and humanities. A 2014 study found that there are more than 100 terms related to knowledge translation being debated amongst research and stakeholders (Mathew et al., 2014). This module is meant to be an introduction to the overall concept and therefore it is just important to note the wide variety of jargon used.

At the end of the day, we are going to focus on the similarities between all of these terms and concepts, which really tend to be about raising awareness, bringing people together and putting knowledge into action, as noted by the Knowledge Institute on Child and Youth Mental Health and Addictions. This organization has also created an online toolkit available to the public that assists individuals in mobilization valuable knowledge and information in your community.