Making interpretive policy analysis critical and societally relevant: emotions, ethnography and language

Author(s):  
Anna Durnová

This article summarises the main achievements of interpretive approaches to policy analysis and signposts ways to develop them to strengthen inclusivity and diversity. By visualising tangible strategies used in the approach, it demonstrates how we can better understand how policies are made and understood. At the same time, the article places a strong focus on emotions and ethnography as a way to strengthen the societal relevance of the approach. Focusing on emotions in policy research goes beyond a simple interest in emotions, using them as a specific critical lens to view the researched phenomenon while considering how policy ideas are framed as relevant or irrelevant through expressive language. Analogously, the article describes ethnography as an epistemological lens for analysing policy wherein researchers embrace human bias and the normativity of their research. To illustrate how these two lenses work in practice, the article concludes by discussing the research design of an analysis of the role of fathers in the policy debate around birth care in Czechia.

Author(s):  
John L. Campbell ◽  
Ove K. Pedersen

Let us pause and consider the CHAPTER implications of what we have presented in part I. We begin by reviewing our main findings so far about the national origins of policy ideas. Then we examine their implications for comparative political economy and for arguments about the independence of intellectual enterprises like policy analysis and advising. We conclude with a brief discussion of typologies of policy research organizations....


1995 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 311-319
Author(s):  
Johan Wisserhof

Water-related research is often performed at significantly lower levels of integration than policymaking for integrated water management. This may limit its utilization in policymaking. Nevertheless, an analysis of strategic policymaking for water management in The Netherlands shows that policy research still has a considerable impact on policy. This is largely due to the integrative intermediary role of policy analysis. (Policy research is the acquisition of knowledge concerning a policy problem. Policy analysis is the appraisal of alternative policies.) However, policy analysis for water management is often restricted to the natural sciences and engineering. An additional input of administrative science may contribute to resolve the current problems in implementation of integrated water policies. Factors of concern in this respect are elaborated.


1994 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 31-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Curtis

Despite long-term interest in poverty in the United States, and the increasing role of applied and practicing anthropologists as producers and consumers of policy research, anthropologists have not yet had much impact on the welfare policy debate. That debate rests on certain widespread assumptions about the causes and consequences of poverty, the characteristics of the poor, and the effectiveness of proposals to eliminate poverty. As Brett Williams points out, discussions of poverty and welfare have been dominated by economists, who count and classify the poor, and journalists, who depict the poor as isolated and pathological ("Poverty Among African Americans in the Urban United States," Human Organization 51,2[1992]:164-174).


2021 ◽  
pp. jech-2020-216108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malcolm Campbell ◽  
Lukas Marek ◽  
Jesse Wiki ◽  
Matthew Hobbs ◽  
Clive E Sabel ◽  
...  

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has asked unprecedented questions of governments around the world. Policy responses have disrupted usual patterns of movement in society, locally and globally, with resultant impacts on national economies and human well-being. These interventions have primarily centred on enforcing lockdowns and introducing social distancing recommendations, leading to questions of trust and competency around the role of institutions and the administrative apparatus of state. This study demonstrates the unequal societal impacts in population movement during a national ‘lockdown’.MethodsWe use nationwide mobile phone movement data to quantify the effect of an enforced lockdown on population mobility by neighbourhood deprivation using an ecological study design. We then derive a mobility index using anonymised aggregated population counts for each neighbourhood (2253 Census Statistical Areas; mean population n=2086) of national hourly mobile phone location data (7.45 million records, 1 March 2020–20 July 2020) for New Zealand (NZ).ResultsCurtailing movement has highlighted and exacerbated underlying social and spatial inequalities. Our analysis reveals the unequal movements during ‘lockdown’ by neighbourhood socioeconomic status in NZ.ConclusionIn understanding inequalities in neighbourhood movements, we are contributing critical new evidence to the policy debate about the impact(s) and efficacy of national, regional or local lockdowns which have sparked such controversy.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. e000076 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alina Engelman ◽  
Ben Case ◽  
Lisa Meeks ◽  
Michael D Fetters

Healthcare guidelines play a prominent role in the day-to-day practice of primary care providers, and health policy research leads to the formation of these guidelines. Health policy research is the multidisciplinary approach to public policy explaining the interaction between health institutions, special interests and theoretical constructs. In this article, we demonstrate how primary care providers can conduct high-impact health policy research using Eugene Bardach’s eightfold policy analysis framework in a primary care context. In a medical case, a woman with a history of total hysterectomy had scheduled a visit for a Papanicolaou (Pap) smear screening test as part of a well-woman health check-up with a family medicine resident. Conflicting recommendations on Pap smear screening after total hysterectomy sparked an investigation using the US Preventive Services Task Force criteria for conducting a health policy analysis. We illustrate broadly how clinical care dilemmas can be examined by using Bardach’s broadly applicable health policy framework in order to inform meaningful policy change. Bardach’s framework includes (1) defining the problem, (2) assembling evidence, (3) constructing alternatives, (4) selecting criteria, (5) projecting outcomes, (6) confronting trade-offs, (7) decision-making and (8) sharing the results of the process. The policy analysis demonstrated insufficient evidence to recommend Pap test screening after hysterectomy and the findings contributed to national recommendations. By following Bardach’s steps, primary care researchers have a feasible and powerful tool for conducting meaningful health policy research and analysis that can influence clinical practice.


1986 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 340 ◽  
Author(s):  
David H. Greenberg ◽  
Philip K. Robins

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (6/7) ◽  
pp. 582-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hairul Azlan Annuar ◽  
Hafiz Majdi Abdul Rashid

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to ascertain the control role of independent non-executive directors (INEDs) in Malaysian public listed companies (PLCs), as prescribed in the Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance (MCCG).The MCCG (2000) requires substantive involvement of INEDs on the audit, nomination and remuneration board sub-committees. The study also examines the effectiveness of INEDs in discharging their monitoring roles in these sub-committees. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative research design consisting of a series of interviews with board members of Malaysian-owned PLCs on the board of Bursa Malaysia was used. Findings – Interviews with 27 company directors reveal that, due to their independence, INEDs are crucial in safeguarding the interests of smaller investors if situations arise in which shareholders’ interests may be threatened. The interviews also disclose that the audit committee possesses the most authority among the sub-committees, as it derives its power not only from the Listing Requirements but also from statute, as well as being involved in areas of the company not traditionally associated with the committee. The study also reveals the differences in opinion between executive directors and INEDs with regard to the extent of INEDs’ effectiveness. Research limitations/implications – This research utilises interviews. Generalisation may be an issue when interviews are used as the method of inquiry. In addition, the sample is not random, as access to many directors is dependent on recommendations. In addition, the respondents have been consciously selected to cover various board positions, including independent and non-independent directors. Practical implications – The findings from this research suggest that INEDs are able to discharge their responsibilities in overseeing the conduct of executives and protecting the interests of investors. In addition, the interviews disclose that the effectiveness of INEDs depends on how non-executive directors view INEDs being on the board. Rather than focusing solely on their control role, INEDS are expected to have a more proactive and progressive role in ensuring sustainable growth and the expansion of the business entity. Originality/value – There are limited studies using qualitative research design in investigating the effectiveness of INEDs in the control role of the board in developing countries. Prior studies were predominantly based upon the experience of Western economies.


2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 1283-1295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon T. Harold ◽  
Kit K. Elam ◽  
Gemma Lewis ◽  
Frances Rice ◽  
Anita Thapar

AbstractPast research has linked interparental conflict, parent psychopathology, hostile parenting, and externalizing behavior problems in childhood. However, few studies have examined these relationships while simultaneously allowing the contribution of common genetic factors underlying associations between family- and parent-level variables on child psychopathology to be controlled. Using the attributes of a genetically sensitive in vitro fertilization research design, the present study examined associations among interparental conflict, parents' antisocial behavior problems, parents' anxiety symptoms, and hostile parenting on children's antisocial behavior problems among genetically related and genetically unrelated mother–child and father–child groupings. Path analyses revealed that for genetically related mothers, interparental conflict and maternal antisocial behavior indirectly influenced child antisocial behavior through mother-to-child hostility. For genetically unrelated mothers, effects were apparent only for maternal antisocial behavior on child antisocial behavior through mother-to-child hostility. For both genetically related and genetically unrelated fathers and children, interparental conflict and paternal antisocial behavior influenced child antisocial behavior through father-to-child hostility. Effects of parental anxiety symptoms on child antisocial behavior were apparent only for genetically related mothers and children. Results are discussed with respect to the relative role of passive genotype–environment correlation as a possible confounding factor underlying family process influences on childhood psychopathology.


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