scholarly journals Communicating evidence in icons and summary formats for policymakers: what works?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Cameron Brick ◽  
Alexandra L.J. Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Decision Makers ◽  
Policy Options ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Graphical Displays ◽  
What Works ◽  
Financial Costs ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Evidence Quality ◽  
Color Cues ◽  
Expected Outcomes

Abstract Policy decisions have vast consequences, but there is little empirical research on how best to communicate underlying evidence to decision-makers. Groups in diverse fields (e.g., education, medicine, crime) use brief, graphical displays to list policy options, expected outcomes and evidence quality in order to make such evidence easy to assess. However, the understanding of these representations is rarely studied. We surveyed experts and non-experts on what information they wanted and tested their objective comprehension of commonly used graphics. A total of 252 UK residents from Prolific and 452 UK What Works Centre users interpreted the meaning of graphics shown without labels. Comprehension was low (often below 50%). The best-performing graphics combined unambiguous metaphorical shapes with color cues and indications of quantity. The participants also reported what types of evidence they wanted and in what detail (e.g., subgroups, different outcomes). Users particularly wanted to see intervention effectiveness and quality, and policymakers also wanted to know the financial costs and negative consequences. Comprehension and preferences were remarkably consistent between the two samples. Groups communicating evidence about policy options can use these results to design summaries, toolkits and reports for expert and non-expert audiences.

scholarly journals Communicating evidence for policy makers in icons and tables- What works? preprint

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cameron Brick ◽  
Alexandra Lee Jessica Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Decision Makers ◽  
Policy Options ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Graphical Displays ◽  
What Works ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Evidence Quality ◽  
Color Cues ◽  
Evidence For Policy

Policy decisions have vast consequences, but there is little empirical research on how best to communicate underlying evidence to decision makers. Groups in diverse fields (e.g., education, medicine, crime) use brief, graphical displays to list policy options, expected outcomes, and evidence quality, to make such evidence easy to assess. However, the understanding of these representations is rarely studied. We surveyed experts and non-experts on what information they want and tested their objective comprehension of commonly used graphics. 252 UK residents from Prolific and 452 UK What Works Centre users interpreted the meaning of graphics shown without labels. Comprehension was low (often below 50 per cent). The best-performing graphics combined unambiguous metaphorical shapes with color cues and indications of quantity. The participants also reported what types of evidence they wanted and in what detail (e.g., subgroups; different outcomes). Users particularly wanted to see intervention effectiveness and quality, and policy makers also wanted to know the financial costs and negative consequences. Comprehension and preferences were remarkably consistent between the two samples. Groups communicating evidence about policy options can use these results to design summaries, toolkits, and reports for expert and non-expert audiences.

Misusing historical analogies limits US policy options

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Middle East ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Options ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Content Type ◽  
White House ◽  
Decision To Leave ◽  
Us Military ◽  
The Future

Significance The Vietnam analogy implies that President Joe Biden’s decision to leave Afghanistan will have deeply negative consequences for the United States. However, Afghanistan is not Vietnam and the Biden withdrawal needs to be considered within the wider context of his administration’s review of US commitments abroad. Impacts The White House will be pressured to clarify the future of other US military commitments, particularly in Iraq. Biden will seek to reassure allies, particularly those in NATO, that his commitment to multilateralism will not diminish. Biden may seek an opportunity for a military show of force, possibly in the Middle East, to refute accusations of weakness.

scholarly journals COST, CONTEXT, AND DECISIONS IN HEALTH ECONOMICS AND HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 434-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony J. Culyer
Keyword(s):  
Health Economics ◽  
Health Technology Assessment ◽  
Decision Maker ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Context Dependent

Objectives:This study is an attempt to demystify and clarify the idea of cost in health economics and health technology assessment (HTA).Methods:Its method draws on standard concepts in economics. Cost is a more elusive concept than is commonly thought and can be particularly elusive in multidisciplinary territory like HTA.Results:The article explains that cost is more completely defined as opportunity cost, why cost is necessarily associated with a decision, and that it will always vary according to the context of that decision: whether choice is about inputs or outputs, what the alternatives are, the timing of the consequences of the decision, the nature of the commitment to which a decision maker is committed, who the decision maker is, and the constraints and discretion limiting or liberating the decision maker. Distinctions between short and long runs and between fixed and variable inputs are matters of choice, not technology, and are similarly context-dependent. Harms or negative consequences are, in general, not costs. Whether so-called “clinically unrelated” future costs and benefits should be counted in current decisions again depends on context.Conclusions:The costs of entire health programs are context-dependent, relating to planned rates of activity, volumes, and timings. The implications for the methods of HTA are different in the contexts of low- and middle-income countries compared with high-income countries, and further differ contextually according to the budget constraints (fixed or variable) facing decision makers.

scholarly journals Winners and losers - communicating the potential impacts of policies

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cameron Brick ◽  
William John Skylark ◽  
Alexandra Lee Jessica Freeman ◽  
Theresa Marteau
Keyword(s):  
Policy Decision ◽  
Policy Option ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Communication Effectiveness ◽  
Policy Options ◽  
Effective Policy ◽  
Policy Decision Making ◽  
Long Timescales ◽  
Review Current

Individual decision-makers need communications that succinctly describe potential harms and benefits of different options, but policymakers or citizens evaluating a policy are rarely given a balanced and easily understood summary of the potential outcomes of their decision. We review current policy option communication across diverse domains such as taxes, health, climate change, and international trade, followed by reviews of guidance and evidence for communication effectiveness. Our conceptual synthesis identifies four characteristics of policy options that make their communication particularly difficult: heterogeneous impacts on different segments of the population, multiple outcomes, long timescales, and large uncertainties. For communicators that are trying to inform rather than persuade, these complexities reveal a core tension between issue coverage and comprehensibility. We find little empirical evidence for how to communicate policy options effectively. We identify promising current communications, analyze them based on the above synthesis, and suggest priorities for future research. Recognizing the particular challenges of balanced, effective policy option communications could lead to better guidelines and support for policy decision-making. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-018-0121-9

Litigation and Settlement

2014 ◽  
pp. 622-642
Author(s):  
Jennifer K. Robbennolt
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Expected Utility ◽  
Economic Models ◽  
Dynamic Interaction ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Psychological Phenomena ◽  
Expected Outcomes

Standard economic models of litigation and settlement conceive of litigation and settlement decision-making as a process in which legal actors—litigants and their attorneys—rationally maximize expected utility. While such models provide a helpful structure for understanding litigation decision-making, litigants and their attorneys may not always behave and decide in ways that follow the assumptions of the economic models. Predicting expected outcomes, setting goals, interacting with adversaries, gathering and using information, and weighing options all present challenges for decision-makers. In addition, the dynamic interaction between lawyer and client can influence whether and how cases are settled. Recognizing the variety of psychological phenomena that make it challenging for litigants and their attorneys to identify and choose the best litigation options can make for a richer and more accurate understanding of litigation decision-making.

scholarly journals Hiding personal information reveals the worst

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (4) ◽  
pp. 954-959 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie K. John ◽  
Kate Barasz ◽  
Michael I. Norton
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Sexually Transmitted Diseases ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Blood Donations ◽  
Sexually Transmitted

Seven experiments explore people’s decisions to share or withhold personal information, and the wisdom of such decisions. When people choose not to reveal information—to be “hiders”—they are judged negatively by others (experiment 1). These negative judgments emerge when hiding is volitional (experiments 2A and 2B) and are driven by decreases in trustworthiness engendered by decisions to hide (experiments 3A and 3B). Moreover, hiders do not intuit these negative consequences: given the choice to withhold or reveal unsavory information, people often choose to withhold, but observers rate those who reveal even questionable behavior more positively (experiments 4A and 4B). The negative impact of hiding holds whether opting not to disclose unflattering (drug use, poor grades, and sexually transmitted diseases) or flattering (blood donations) information, and across decisions ranging from whom to date to whom to hire. When faced with decisions about disclosure, decision-makers should be aware not just of the risk of revealing, but of what hiding reveals.

scholarly journals Consumer Welfare Effects of Quantity Changes in Demand

2013 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-227
Author(s):  
Kuo S. Huang
Keyword(s):  
Food Policy ◽  
Malmquist Index ◽  
Commodity Prices ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
Consumer Welfare ◽  
Welfare Effects ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Demand System ◽  
Policy Options ◽  
Food Groups

Information about consumer welfare effects associated with quantity changes in demand is important for agricultural and food policy decision-makers because many policy options are directly related to controlling supplies as a means to stabilize or raise commodity prices and farmers' income. A new method is developed to measure the consumer welfare effects by using the estimates of an inverse demand system and a modified quantity-adjusted Malmquist index to represent the efficiency in quantity metric welfare. The methodology is validated by applying it to a U.S. inverse food demand system consisting of 13 food groups and a nonfood sector.

scholarly journals Developing Framework and Strategies for Capacity Building to Apply Evidence-Informed Health Policy-making in Iran: Mixed Methods Study of SAHSHA Project

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahdi Mahdavi ◽  
Javad Sajjadi Khasraghi ◽  
Haniye Sadat Sajadi ◽  
Bahareh Yazdizadeh ◽  
Sima Nikooee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Health System ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
Expert Panel ◽  
Management Team ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Policy Options ◽  
Healthcare Organizations

Background: SASHA, which stands for "Evidence-Informed Health Policymaking (EIHP)" in Persian, is a national project to draw a roadmap for strengthening EIHP in Iran. As a part of SASHA, this research aimed to develop evidence-based and context-aware policy options for increasing the capacity of decision-makers to apply EIHP in Iran. Methods: This was a qualitative study, which was informed by a literature review of pull efforts’ capacity building programs (CBPs). Based on the review, we developed policy options and validated them through an expert panel that involved twelve experts. Data were analyzed using a content analysis method. Results: We extracted data from 11 articles. The objectives of CBPs were: single-skill development, personal/professional development, and organizational development. According to these objectives, the contents and training methods of the programs vary. CBPs have shown positive impacts on individual knowledge/attitudes to use EIHP. However, the impacts of programs at the organizational or the health system level remain under-researched. We followed several threads from the literature review through to the expert panel that included training the management team, instead of training managers, training for problem-solving skills, and designing tailored programs. Barriers of capacity building for EIHP regard the context of the health system (weak accountability and the widespread conflict of interest) and healthcare organizational structures (decision support systems, knowledge management infrastructures, and lack of management team). Experts suggested interventions on the barriers, particularly on resolving the conflict of interests before launching new programs. A proposed framework to increase the capacity of health policymakers incorporates strategies at three levels: CBP, organizational structure, and health system context. Conclusion: To prepare the context of Iranian healthcare organizations for CBPs, the conflict of interests needs to be resolved, decision-makers should be made more accountable, and healthcare organizations need to provide more knowledge management infrastructures and decision support systems.

Lying, Denying, or Justifying?

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-64
Author(s):  
Mirjam Edel
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Ruling Elites ◽  
Main Strategy

In Tunisia under Ben Ali (1987–2011), marked human rights rhetoric coincided with intense repression. This points to a more general puzzle: what happens when authoritarian regimes uphold their repressive power maintenance agendas while simultaneously trying to avoid negative international consequences? This article argues that authoritarian decision-makers attempt to evade negative consequences from international audiences by applying cushioning strategies in the form of obfuscation, rhetorical justification and/or procedural justification. In that way, they adapt their repressive tactics and manipulate the visibility and perception of their repressive behavior. Ben Ali’s main strategy was to obfuscate, i.e. to deny and cover repression. However, as international audiences are far from applying the same yardstick to all human rights violations, ruling elites often repress targets differently depending on whether audiences have links and sympathy. Again, this becomes apparent in the Tunisian case study, from which hypotheses are generated for future research.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document