Research Training The Womens Policy Institute

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Research TrainingThe Womens Policy Institute

• Jessica Fields, with Kendra Bloom
• San Francisco State University
• September 25, 2008

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Training objectives

• Link research training to Kingdon model
• Appreciate value of evidence-based policy
• Understand role of audience in determining
  relevance of evidence
• Feel confident in ability to use a variety of
  research strategies
• Initiate policy research plan

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Training outline

• Welcome and introductions
• Problems, proposals, and politics
• Evidence-based policy advocacy
• Audiences and evidence
• Policy research plan
• Remember as you research
• Concluding questions and comments

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Welcome and Introductions
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Research and Policy Advocacy

• Gathering Evidence to Make Our Case

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PROBLEMS

• 1. Who is affected?
• 2. How are they affected?
• 3. How do we know there is a problem?
• 4. What are specific negative consequences of
  this problem?
• 5. What do we already know about this problem?
• 6. What will happen if we do nothing about it?

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PROPOSALS

• 1. What are our options?
• 2. What have people tried before?
• 3. What is the downside of the solution we are
  proposing?

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POLITICS

• 1. Who are the political supporters?
• 2. Who will oppose this?
• 3. What is the oppositions position?
• 4. What is the agencys position?
• 5. What evidence would counter or debunk those
  positions?

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Types of evidence

• New unpublished, what has yet to be deemed
  research
• e.g., program evaluations, client or participant
  stories, lived experience
• Existing published research and/or data
• e.g., academic articles, studies, statistics

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Research and policy advocacy
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Evidence-based policy advocacy

• Persuades
• Grounds policy agendas community needs and
  experiences
• Addresses concerns that programs will not meet
  critical needs
• Provides policymakers with actionable and
  accurate information on what works

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What counts as evidence?

• Scientific randomized
• controlled trials
• Process implementation studies
• Demographic data
• Opinion polls
• Narratives
• Interviews (formal and informal)
• Evaluation data
• Anecdotes

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Sources of evidence

• Clients
• Practitioners
• Communities
• Research literature
• Researcher collaborators
• Evaluators

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Audiences and evidence

• What political arena are you entering?
• What audiences are you appealing to?
• What questions will they have?
• What evidence will they need?

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Audiences and Evidence
Problem Proposal
Politics
audience
audience
audience
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Audiences and Evidence
Increased funding for breast cancer treatment
Policy change
voters
politicians
policy makers
What are the most cost-effective funding options?
How is my constituency affected?
How will this affect me?
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Policy research plan

• Guiding principles
• Mutual accountability
• Clear and shared priorities
• Respect for deadlines
• Importance of asking for help
• Challenges as learning opportunities

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Policy research plan

• Developing the plan
• Identify long-term research tasksissue being
  researched
• Specify next stepsresearch activities
• Assign people responsible, preferably in pairs
• Agree on due dates

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Remember as you research

• Look in before you look out
• Allow what you learn to shape your policy aims
• Partner with researchers
• Use a variety of methods and sources

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Concluding Questions and Comments