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plcy 210 > midterm 2 > Flashcards

midterm 2 Flashcards

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1
Q

how do policy analysts enter the process

A

1) identification and verification of complex problems
2) quantitative/qualitative comparison of alternative ways to address problems
3) compilation of info into communication vehicle to relay to policy makers

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2
Q

analysis is ….

(skills of policy analyst)

A

simple, transparent. provides and defines formulas and data sources.

advocates for the position of others

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3
Q

why advocate for the position of others?

A

1) elevate the debate and complexity of alternatives
2) assess and reassess established truths

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4
Q

think like a policy analyst

A

become knowledgeable in current events at every level (local, federal, ect)

mind familiarity, tradition, professional laws

consider approach, info, method, decision/evaluation criteria, types of policy action

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5
Q

policy analyst early challenges

A

1) application of tools to practice
2) learn organization
3) learn political system

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6
Q

ethics

A

branch of philosophy that deals with questions of morality, moral problems, and moral judgements

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7
Q

ethical

A

conforming to standards of conduct in a given profession or group

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8
Q

ethical dilemma

A

situation in which one chooses from alternative courses of action, each with different ethical implications

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9
Q

justice approach of ethical reasoning

A

method of ethical reasoning that considers whether or not costs/benefits of proposed actions are distributed fairly among individuals and groups

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10
Q

rights approach of ethical reasoning

A

proposed action is right or wrong, less concern over consequences of action

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11
Q

utility approach of ethical reasoning

A

focuses on society as the unit of analysis and stresses consequences of act on all those directly or indirectly affected.

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12
Q

important ethical relationship and perspectives

A

1) individual analyst
2) relation to employers/clients
3) relation to colleagues and profession
4) relation to public/society

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13
Q

informed consent

A

voluntary participation

informed in advance about nature of study and the risk of harm it may bring, then subjects consent in writing

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14
Q

who cant give informed consent

A

prisoners, young children, people with mental disorders

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15
Q

anonymity

A

neither researchers nor readers of findings can identify response with given respondent

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16
Q

confidentiality

A

guaranteed when research can identify a given persons responses, but promises not to do so publicly

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17
Q

objective technician analyst role

A

lets the analysis speak for itself. believes that primary focus should be predicting consequences of alternative policies.

views clients as a necessary evil, thinks that their political fortunes should be secondary considerations. keeps distance from clients and selects institutional clients whenever possible.

believes that relevant values should be identified, but tradeoffs among them should be left to clients. believes that objective advice will promote good in the long run.

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18
Q

client advocate analyst role

A

thinks that analysis rarely produces definite conclusions. takes advantage of ambiguity to advance clients positions.

believes that clients provide analysts with legitimacy. thinks that loyalty should be given to them in exchange for information and access to political process.

selects clients with compatible values, uses long term relationships to change clients perspective of “good”

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19
Q

issue advocate analyst role

A

believes that analysis rarely produces definite conclusions. emphasizes ambiguity and excluded values when analysis doesn’t support advocacy.

thinks that clients provide opportunity for advocacy. selects them opportunistically, changing clients to further personal policy agenda.

thinks that analysis should be an instrument for progress toward one’s conception of the good society.

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20
Q

social construction of policy problem

A

problems are not entirely objective entities, they have both subjective and objective components

social framing of the problem is subjective, it varies by group (affected, governing, stakeholders)

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21
Q

why is policy concerned with a social problem

A

the actual or anticipated state of world is undesirable, government intervention is appropriate

difficult and unlikely to be resolved by individual action

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22
Q

problem creation cycle

A

1) condition 2) standard/value 3) problem 4) gov action possible?

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23
Q

competing problem definition

A

for any social condition, if it is defined as a public problem, it will be defined in multiple ways

problem definitions compete for acceptance

why does the problem matter for society? which definitions are broadly accepted by society?

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24
Q

3 dimensions of a problem

A

1) tractability: function of magnitude and complexity
2) tangibility: how diffuse or invisible is the problem
3) severity: does it deserve a space on an already crowded agenda?

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25
6 steps for defining a problem
1) think in excess and deficit 2) make problem definition evaluative 3) quantify if possible 4) diagnose conditions that cause the problem 5) do not describe solution in problem statement 6) iterate
26
making a problem evaluative
consider market failures, but also consider the beyond: inequity, discrimination, problems of direct democracy (majority imposes high costs on minority), problems of representative democracy (special interests/groups)
27
problem statement
no casual elements or solutions defines boundaries of an issue (geographic, population, phenomenon) describes magnitude using comparisons or trends to demonstrate importance and realness
28
reading through evidence on likely causes of a public problem helps to
better define it
29
how to improve search of previous literature
survey best practices from related policy areas, use analogies, touch base with potential critics or those whose policy suggestions you are likely to dislike
30
goal of assembling evidence
to find, interpret, criticize, and synthesize existing evidence
31
use existing evidence as a springboard to
1) briefly summarize whats been tried before 2) introduce new policy alternatives aimed at improving problem 3) project likely outcomes of the alternative on your criteria
32
evidence-based
rooted in scientific research, not anecdotal evidence. used to make informed decisions about policy program or practice to address a social problem
33
evidence from where? (from the readings)
1) people lead to people 2) people lead to documents 3) documents lead to documents 4) documents lead to people talk with people who have knowledge about public problem youre studying
34
APPAM
association for public policy analysis and management publish journal of policy analysis and management professional organization for researchers doing work with policy implications
35
critical components of research studies
1) purpose 2) methods: -units of analysis -time dimension -sampling methods
36
exploratory research study
purpose: mapping out a topic that may warrant further study later: clarify, discover, identify research design: pilot studies, focus groups
37
descriptive research studies
purpose: describe the state of affairs: who/what/when/where research design: usually data analysis
38
causal research studies
purpose: provide causal reasons for phenomena in terms of a causal relationship research design: data analysis
39
causal/explanatory research
allows causal inferences to be made, identifies cause and effect (x brought about by y) relationships
40
3 critical pieces of causality
1) temporal sequence 2) non zero correlation 3) non-spurious association
41
temporal sequence
appropriate causal order of events
42
non zero correlation
two phenomena vary together (the two variables have a relationship)
43
non-spurious association
an absence of alternative plausible explanations
44
causation example
increase in policing causes increase in arrests increase in arrests does NOT cause increase in policing
45
positive correlation
as x increases, y increases bottom left to top right
46
negative correlation
as x increases, y decreases top left to bottom right
47
just because two things are related doesnt mean
that they cause eachother. ex) increase in drownings with ice cream doesn't mean that ice cream causes drowning. theyre just related because when its hot, more people eat ice cream AND more people swim, making them more likely to drown
48
unit of analysis
indicates what/who should provide the data, and at what level of aggregation -individuals (customers, employees, owners) -household (families, extended families) -geographical (state, county)
49
multi-level analysis
studies variables measured at more than one unit of analysis
50
hypothesis
formal statement, derived from theory, which typically states a relationship between two variables
51
example of "unit of analysis" "exhaust leaks are more common in ford than chevy trucks"
ford and chevy trucks
52
cross sectional study
study based on observations representing a single point in time, cross section of a population relevant to time dimension
53
longitudinal study
study design involving collection of data at different points in time relevant to time dimension
54
secondary data
often used by policy analysts gathered/ recorded by someone else prior to and for a purpose other than the current project advantage: available, cheap, requires no access to subject, faster, may provide info not otherwise accessible disadvantage: uncertain validity, data not consistent with needs, inappropriate units of measurement
55
descriptive studies answer questions of .... explanatory studies answer questions of ...
what why
56
experimental process
draw it out!!!!!
57
experiments typically involve deceiving subjects when is it right to deceive?
researchers should debrief experimental subjects following an experimental procedure because it returns subject to normal state due to their invasive nature, experiments can inadvertently cause harm
58
internal validity
possibility that conclusions drawn from experimental results may not accurately reflect what happened in the experiment itself did the treatment or stimulus lead to changes in the outcome?
59
external validity
possibility that conclusions drawn from experimental results may not be generalizable to real world behavioral experiments often use convenient rather than truly random subjects
60
randomization
technique for assigning experimental subjects to experimental and control groups
61
matching
pairs of subjects are matched based on their similarities on one or more variables, and one member of pair is assigned to control group and other is assigned to experimental group
62
representative sample
has characteristics that are very similar to those in the population different cases are present in sample in the same proportion as population if sample is not representative, we cannot accurately generalize it to the population we typically make this using a probability sample
63
probability sample
sample in which each target population element has a known, non-zero chance of being included in the sample central idea: random selection that makes the task objective
64
simple random sample
probability sampling plan in which each unit included has a known and equal chance of being selected
65
systematic sample
probability sampling plan in which every "k"th element in population is selected from sample pool after random start
66
cluster sample
population divided into subsets and a random sample of one or more subsets (clusters) is selected
67
stratified sample
population divided into subsets and a random sample of elements is chosen from each subset
68
non probability samples
sample that relies on personal judgement in the selection process convenience sample, judgement sample, quota sample sampling error cannot be estimated in non probability samples, and we cannot make inferences about the population
69
snowball sampling
non probability sample judgement about a sample that is used to sample special, hard to find populations in which an initial set of respondents are located and asked to locate others with same characteristics
70
selection bias
process used to collect data generates non representative sample
71
self selection bias
individuals can sort themselves into or out of a group being studied in a way that effects the composition of group being studied
72
survivorship bias
observations are lost before analysis is conducted, biasing the representative sample
73
natural experiment
treatment is assigned exogenously treatment is determined by naturally occurring or unplanned event that is outside of researchers control this exogenous force randomizes the treatment (naturally occurring randomization)
74
are natural experiments the cure all?
not really. many are not truly random in the sense that experiments are. thus, there is still a chance for bias. they raise external validity problems: would this extreme situation generalize to other parts of life? we always trade external validity for internal validity (tradeoff) and vice versa

plcy 210 (2 decks)

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