Tools for analyzing the success and failure of public policies.

1. AGENDA
• Attendance
• The how and the why of policy
assessment
• Public Citizen group project work time
Evaluating Public Policies

2. Evaluation tells us:
• Has the policy been implemented
effectively by those designated to carry it
out?
• Has it solved the problem it was meant to
address?
• Was it a poor fit or undermined by those
who didn’t agree?
DISCUSSCan you give an example of a policy that
has not worked?
Why Evaluate Public Policies?

3. 1. The people who made the policy such as an
elected body or designated administrator
2. Professionals – accountants, statitistions,
economists attorneys or other experts
3 The courts
4.Those affected by the policy which may be
us.
DISCUSSCan you give an example of public policy
or college policy that has affected you either
positively or negatively?
Who evaluates public policies?

4. Qualitative evaluations look at the
individual effect of the policy – personal
interviews, case studies, observation,
open-ended questions
Problems:
• Personal bias
• Small samples
• Hard to generalize to whole
situation
Quantitative evaluations look at
statistics and percentage of change.
Original objectives are compared to final
results – pre- and post- surveys, censuses,
random samples
Problems:
• Too many variables
• Wrong forms of measurement are
used
• Statistical Bias
• Original objectives unclear
.
DISCUSS
The Evaluation Process
Which approach would you use – qualitative, quantitative or a mixture of
both to evaluate the following policies?
• Roe vs Wade
• Brown vs the Board of Education
• The current temporary health-based ban on fracking in NY

5. The biggest influence in evaluating policy
is bias: Both qualitative and quantitative
methods can be biased by what the evaluator
chooses to observe or measure or how they
define things. That choice is influenced by the
evaluator’s personal beliefs.
Discuss Do you think it is possible to evaluate a
policy free of personal bias?
Discuss How could you minimize the effect of those
beliefs on your judgement?
Bias

6. 1. Discuss where you are in your project
2. Design at least 2 ways to evaluate the results
of your policy. These could be -
• Quantitative: a follow up survey, a follow up poll,
a statistical analysis, etc.
• Qualitative: individual interview, open-ended
questions, observation, etc.
• Record this discussion in your journals.
Public Citizen Group Work