Book Description

The need to base policy on evidence has placed pressure on decision-makers to support proposals with well-grounded research and information. However, no practical guide with a focus on public sector policy and decision-making for doing this exists. This edited text fills the gap by providing a practical and comprehensive manual for people working in policy areas. It is aimed at practitioners with little or no experience in research and analysis but who require skills in managing, assessing and critically evaluating evidence use in the public sector. This first part of the book covers a range of broad frameworks within which evidence is used to arrive at decisions. These include evaluation, cost-benefit analysis, multi-criteria analysis, economic modelling and forecasting, and scenario planning and futures analysis. The second part of the book then discusses the specific methods used to gather and analyse evidence within these frameworks, including secondary data sources, sample surveys, and qualitative and quantitative data analysis. The emphasis throughout is not on technical knowledge, but critical understanding. George Argyrous is Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences and International Studies at the University of New South Wales, Australia, and is an Adjunct Faculty member of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government.