METHODS OF POLICY ANALYSIS

 METHODS OF POLICY ANALYSIS

Policy analysis can explore one policy, compare two or more policies with each other, or model the future implications of a variety of different policy changes (Singer & Manton, 1993). 

Policy analysis can examine one stage in policy development or can look across all stages of policy, from design to implementation and evaluation. 

The following is a review of the most prominent methodologies used in policy analysis to describe, analyze, and compare policies. 

⦁ Needs Assessment. 

First, to address problems sensibly a policy analyst identifies the nature, scope, and extent of the problems. He or she accomplishes an assessment of the extent of need in a variety of ways. He or she may document the nature of the problem through analysis of existing information.

 The policy analyst can then use such information to describe the current state of need and to forecast likely needs.

⦁ Cost–Benefit Analysis 

Cost–benefit analysis is an approach that attempts to relate the direct and indirect costs of policies to the direct and indirect benefits of those policies. 

Cost–benefit analysis requires that both the costs and the benefits of policies be calculated in monetary form. This is frequently difficult to do, because policy analysts are often unable to give a precise dollar figure for saving a life for example. 

⦁ Cost-Effectiveness Analysis 

Cost-effectiveness analysis looks at the costs of different policies in achieving the desired policy results. 

Unlike cost–benefit analysis, this methodology does not require the monetization of the benefits of each policy. 

Although policy analysts may not know the dollar value of certain benefits, they can compare which policy costs less to achieve the same desired outcome, regardless of monetary value of the expected benefits. 

⦁ Outcome Studies 

One can assess the effectiveness of a policy without knowing the policy's cost or monetizing the benefits. 

Outcome studies can document the comparative effectiveness of different policy alternatives. Using conventional quasi-experimental and experimental research designs, policy analysts are able to assess the extent to which some policy intervention has had the intended impact on the problem it was designed to address. 

⦁ Case Studies 

Case studies involve the systematic and detailed description and analysis of the formation, implementation, and evaluation of specific policies. 

Examples include analysis of the impact of the Zambian health policy on access to health. 

⦁ Meta-analysis 

Meta-analysis can provide guidance to policymakers in the early phases of policy development by summarizing existing quantitative studies and can assist them after a series of policy outcome studies have been conducted.