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Methodology in Policy Analysis

This research reviews factors that are included in policy analyses. These factors, together with the approach to their assessment, constitute the methodology of policy analysis. Where appropriate, practical examples are used to illustrate the methodology of policy analysis.

Policy analysis is the application of a variety of political and cognitive strategies to the formulation of a public policy (Starling, 1993, p. 11). Policy analysis is not based in a single discipline. Political, organizational, sociological, technological, and economic issues are addressed in most policy analyses. "In policy analysis one of the keys to judging expert testimony is to recognize the biases inherent in single-discipline answers" (Starling, 1993, p. 11). Similarly, an excessive reliance on either normative or quantitative approaches to evaluation typically produces ineffective policy analyses.

It is important to remember that any public policy is a part of a wider political system. Thus, an effective policy analysis looks beyond the narrow scope of the immediate issue to the ways in which a proposed policy will affect the entire system as well as how the policy will affect the immediate issue.

Policy analysis, thus, refers to an analysis of the "determinants, characteristics, and implications of public policies and programs" (Positer, 1992, p. 25). The emphasis in policy analysis in on the relationship between (a) the content of policies, and (b) the expected outcomes of the policies (Langbein, 1995, p. 43). In this context, policy analysis generally occurs prior to the implementation of a policy. Public policies are the guidelines for public action. They prescribe, in general terms, (a) objectives, and (b) the means by which those objectives will be pursued.

States' Rights Versus Federal Rights

An important factor that must be considered in the development of public policy within the federal system in the United States is the ...

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Methodology in Policy Analysis. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 11:49, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1694780.html