scholarly journals El uso de la información en los procesos de políticas: Tensiones epistemológicas y del contexto decisional en la Política Nacional de Evaluación de la Educación en México

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liliana Valladares

One of the objectives of the National Policy for Educational Evaluation in Mexico (PNEE) is to support the design of educational policies based on the information provided by the evaluation results. This paper argues that the use of information in policy processes is undergoing a strong debate about the role of knowledge in public decisions. This debate is addressed through the description of five tensions that are presented in the epistemological and decisional dimensions associated with the policy cycle. It is proposed that the analysis and reflection around these tensions can enrich the understanding of the evidence-based policy approach and contribute, with new theoretical elements, to the design of the actions and measures proposed by 

2012 ◽  
Vol 219 ◽  
pp. R41-R52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Davies

This paper argues that evidence-based policy has clearly made a worldwide impact, at least at the rhetorical and institutional levels, and in terms of analytical activity. The paper then addresses whether or not evidence-based policy evaluation has had an impact on policy formation and public service delivery. The paper uses a model of research-use that suggests that evidence can be used in instrumental, conceptual and symbolic ways. Taking four examples of the use of evidence in the UK over the past decade, this paper argues that evidence can be used instrumentally, conceptually and symbolically in complementary ways at different stages of the policy cycle and under different policy and political circumstances. The fact that evidence is not always used instrumentally, in the sense of “acting on research results in specific, direct ways” (Lavis et al., 2003, p. 228), does not mean that it has little or no influence. The paper ends by considering some of the obstacles to getting research evidence into policy and practice, and how these obstacles might be overcome.


Author(s):  
Adam C.G. Cooper ◽  
Lorenzo Marvulli ◽  
Katie Black ◽  
John Holmes ◽  
Harshal Mehta

Most, if not all empirical research on evidence-based policy has three features: firstly, it typically focuses on the application of science and scientific expertise on policy; secondly, it is executed by ‘outsider’ researchers who are not part of the public administration or policy-making process but observers of it (for example, Stevens, 2010); and thirdly, the major topical focus is in social policy areas such as health, education and crime (Oliver et al, 2014). This study advances the perspectives on evidence-based policy making by exploring the role of engineering expertise in policy making. We first make the case that, although related, science and engineering represent different epistemic communities in relation to policy practice. This difference, we argue, can give rise to particular styles of interaction that can make the governance of engineering expertise in policy making different to that for science or scientists. We then report on the findings of a study of the relationship between a new engineering team in a UK ministry with a technical portfolio and the policy colleagues they worked with across a range of programme areas. Through 18 interviews with policy officials, we identify a range of interactions that imply a need to consider styles of management and approaches to internal deployment of experts within policy organisations, as well as the implications for policy making and engineering expertise, given the way policy and engineering practices overlap.<br /><br />Key messages<br /><ul><li>Engineering advice has never been properly identified and studied in the academic social science literature to date.</li><br /><li>Engineering advice is an important and potent source of evidence in policy making in topical areas like energy policy.</li><br /><li>In contrast to science advice, engineering advice as a practice significantly overlaps with policy practice meaning important conflict or complementarity is possible, dependent on how the advice is deployed.</li></ul>


Author(s):  
Christoph Knill ◽  
Jale Tosun

This chapter examines the process related to policy-making as well as potential determinants of policy choices. It begins with a discussion of conceptual models of policy-making, namely: the institutional, rational, incremental, group, elite, and process models. It then considers the policy cycle, which models the policy process as a series of political activities, consisting of agenda setting, policy formulation, policy adoption, implementation, and evaluation. It also analyses the role of institutions, frames, and policy styles in policy-making and concludes with an assessment of the most crucial domestic and international factors shaping the design of policies, focusing in particular on theories of policy diffusion, policy transfer, and cross-national policy convergence, along with international sources that affect domestic policy-making.


2021 ◽  
pp. 004839312110085
Author(s):  
Donal Khosrowi

This paper argues that an important type of experiment-target inference, extrapolating causal effects, requires models to be successful. Focusing on extrapolation in Evidence-Based Policy, it is argued that extrapolation should be understood not as an inference from an experiment to a target directly, but as a hybrid inference that involves experiments and models. A general framework, METI, is proposed to capture this role of models, and several benefits are outlined: (1) METI highlights epistemically significant interactions between experiments and models, (2) reconciles some differences among existing accounts of experiment-target relationships, and (3) facilitates critical appraisal of inferential practices from experiments.


2012 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 57
Author(s):  
Simon R. Crouch

Objective. Chlamydia prevention and control form a significant part of the Australian Government’s sexual health policy. This paper examines the evidence for policy development and in particular the role of systematic reviews in evidence-based policy. Methods. The author undertook a review of the literature on evidence-based policy. The major theories for evidence-based policy were then linked to the Australian Government’s main chlamydia policy. Results. A systematic review on chlamydia screening has been influential in policy development, but like all systematic reviews its validity must be assessed. It has been suggested that methodological appropriateness and the question being asked are perhaps more important than study design per se. Partnerships between researchers and policymakers are important but it should be noted that experts have their own particular biases. Policymaking can also be determined by political ideologies. Conclusions and implications. The publication of a systematic review has provided a good summative evaluation of chlamydia screening that has been built upon through partnerships with researchers. The resulting chlamydia screening pilot will provide further evidence for future policy; however, a variety of sources are required to develop robust policy directions. What is known about the topic? Systematic reviews are often considered to be the best evidence on which to base policy decisions. In practice it is not always the case that best evidence is used to form policy. As well as systematic reviews, which are not always infallible, there are many other factors that affect the development of national health policy. What does the paper add? This paper provides a consideration of the role of systematic reviews in policy-making, as well as some of the pitfalls to this approach. As an example, it provides the Australian Government’s policy on chlamydia control and looks at other factors that may have contributed to the development of this policy. What are the implications for practitioners? All practitioners involved in policy decisions should consider the evidence-base from which their policies are derived. They should understand the sound basis of the systematic review while accepting that other pressures may affect the processes leading up to the formation of good health policy.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 181-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Ritter

Purpose – This paper starts from the familiar premise of evidence-based policy, and examines the active role that researchers play in policy development processes. The interactive nature of much research translation immediately suggests the need to consider the dynamic way in which problems come to be understood, which is explored in this paper. Furthermore, the integration of research knowledge with the knowledges of “ordinary” citizens is a key challenge. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This paper represents a synthesis of recent studies conducted by the author and her colleagues along with other drug policy literature. Findings – The interactive and dialogic processes that researchers engage with, whether as knowledge brokers or participants in elite policy development forums, have implications for how policy problems (and solutions) come to be constituted. Four perspectives and theoretical approaches are briefly outlined: research design; policy processes; problematization; and critical social sciences analyses. These offer different ways of seeing, understanding and analyzing the relationship between problems, policy solutions and the policy processes. Yet all have lessons for the ways in which research evidence and researchers constitute policy. This needs to sit alongside the role of other drug policy stakeholders – notably the “ordinary” citizen. It is argued that the elite role of research can be tempered with engagement of ordinary citizens. While it can be challenging to reconcile general public views about drugs with the evidence-base, deliberative democracy approaches may hold some promise. Originality/value – This paper draws together a number of central themes for drug policy processes research: where the evidence-based policy paradigm intersects with participatory democracy; how problems are constituted; and the privileged role of research and researchers.


2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 360-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melinda C. Aldrich ◽  
Bertha Hidalgo ◽  
Rachel Widome ◽  
Peter Briss ◽  
Ross C. Brownson ◽  
...  

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