how to write a social policy research

The Writer’s Handbook. Such a list of sources is useful in and of itself, especially if it is accompanied by an explanation about the selection and use of the sources. 2. Your memo should have a straightforward, explicit organizational structure that provides well-explained arguments arranged within a logical sequence of reasoning [think in terms of an if/then logic model--if this policy recommendation, then this action; if this benefit, then this potential cost; if this group is allocated resources, then this group may be excluded]. Tools and methods used to identify and collect information, and how you identified relevant variables, The ways in which you processed the data and the procedures you used to analyze that data, and. United Kingdom. It demonstrates to the reader that you can provide a cogent rationale for the decisions you made to minimize the impact of any problems that arose. As Schneider notes, Bryman, Alan. If not, you should go back and clarify your recommendations and provide further evidence as to why the recommendation is most appropriate for addressing the issue. 4. … YET ANOTHER NOTE:  If your study involves interviews, observations, or other qualitative techniques involving human subjects, you may be required to obtain approval from the university's Office for the Protection of Research Subjects before beginning your research. Methodology is most important here; don’t waste time talking about the first few chapters of your study, go straight for the elements in which you will be conducting the research. “Choosing a Methodology.” In Writing a Graduate Thesis or Dissertation, Teaching Writing Series. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2012; Herman, Luciana. The method must be appropriate to fulfilling the overall aims of the study. ", Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper, Writing the Experimental Report: Methods, Results, and Discussion. You should be prepared for making several drafts and gradually honing the meaning over a longer period of time. Statistical Designs and Tests? Very few public policy debates can be reduced to this type of rhetorical dichotomy. Often you have to summarize a great deal of research into a very short paragraph. Ways of Knowing. The writing should be direct and precise and always written in the past tense. Even established academics find writing a good Research Proposal a difficult task. If there is a lot of data, refer to the source and summarize it, or discuss with your professor how it should be included. For any problems that do arise, you must describe the ways in which they were minimized or why these problems do not impact in any meaningful way your interpretation of the findings. Offer a contrarian viewpoint that challenges the reader to take into account a new perspective on the research problem. Solutions are just opinions until you provide a path that delineates how to get from where you are to where you want to go. In some cases, the approval notice is included as an appendix to your paper. Structuring Your Research Thesis. "How to Write a Scientific Paper: Writing the Methods Section.". Problem Blindness Concisely explain why the outcomes of maintaining the status quo would be preferable to any alterative policy options. Then you have shown how you are going to fill in that hole. Spring 2004. Focus on identifying solutions that have not been proposed or tested elsewhere. The methodology section also includes a thorough review of the methods other scholars have used to study the topic. And, how was it analyzed? Do not provide any background information that does not directly help the reader understand why a particular method was chosen, how the data was gathered or obtained, and how the data was analyzed in relation to the research problem [note: analyzed, not interpreted! If it is difficult to find information in your document, policy makers will not use it. Writing a Research Report Writing Centre Learning Guide As a university student you may be required to write a variety of reports for assessment purposes. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press, 2014; Lunenburg, Frederick C. Writing a Successful Thesis or Dissertation: Tips and Strategies for Students in the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Purdue University; Methods and Materials. A policy memo is a practical, professionally written document that can vary in length from one page to over one hundred pages. MIT OpenCourseWare, Water and Sanitation Infrastructure Planning in Developing Countries, Spring 2004; Pennock, Andrew. Be as thorough and as diligent as you can. You must explain how you obtained and analyzed your results for the following reasons: Bem, Daryl J. In writing this section, state the broad approach to be taken, with specific practical steps or measures that should be implemented. University of Michigan--Dearborn, 2006; “What Are Policy Briefs?” FAO Corporate Document Repository. This information is particularly important when a new method has been developed or an innovative use of an existing method is utilized. Be sure to also state by whom and within what time frame these actions should be taken. This section may be optional but, in some cases, your professor may ask you to include an explicit summary analysis of the costs and benefits of each recommendation. Acknowledge the law of unintended consequences -- no policy analysis is complete until you have identified for whom the policy actions are supposed to benefit and identify what groups may be impacted by the consequences of their implementation. Alternative Microeconomics. This is not a common procedure for most undergraduate level student research assignments. University of Denver; Wilcoxen, Peter J. A policy memo should be written in a professional tone with recommendations based upon empirical reasoning while, at the same time, reflecting a level of passion about your topic. Memos are intended to be, Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper, Policy Memo Requirements and Guidelines, 2012-2013 edition. If the method you choose lies outside of the tradition of your field [i.e., your review of the literature demonstrates that the method is not commonly used], provide a justification for how your choice of methods specifically addresses the research problem in ways that have not been utilized in prior studies. It relates to an ability to provide a lot of information clearly and without superfluous detail. Purdue University; Pennock, Andrew. Incorporate devices such as capitalization, bold text, and bulleted items but be consistent, and don’t go crazy; the purpose is to facilitate access to specific sections of the paper for successive readings. Unnecessary Explanation of Basic Procedures Water & Sanitation Infrastructure Planning syllabus. Student Learning Center. Fourth, you need to show how your research will fit into the whole subject. Methods Section. Bardach, Eugene. Third, the next paragraph should detail how you are going to approach the subject. However, the basic elements of a Research Proposal are the same across the board and the following steps can act as a guide that should help you create a good one. This ideally needs to be written with the non-expert in mind: you need to consider someone reading this part that has no idea what the subject is about and by the end of the paragraph, at least has a handle on what the issues are. Write a brief review of the specific solutions you evaluated, noting the criteria by which you examined and compared different proposed policy alternatives. Both sources provide useful approaches to writing a policy memo in the event that your professor does not provide specific guidance. Don't avoid using a quantitative approach to analyzing your research problem just because you fear the idea of applying statistical designs and tests. Institute for Public Policy Studies. First, you need a good question to focus your research. Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs. John F. Kennedy School of Government. Yes, there are certain commonalities in how the content is presented [e.g., a well-written problem statement], but the overarching objective of a policy memo is not to discover or create new knowledge. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012; Kallet, Richard H. “How to Write the Methods Section of a Research Paper.” Respiratory Care 49 (October 2004):1229-1232; Lunenburg, Frederick C. Writing a Successful Thesis or Dissertation: Tips and Strategies for Students in the Social and Behavioral Sciences. The methodology should discuss the problems that were anticipated and the steps you took to prevent them from occurring. Policy memos are not just text-based but they may also include numeric tables and charts or other non-textual elements, such as photographs, maps, and illustrations. 4th edition. If necessary, technical issues or raw data can be included as an appendix. Reynolds, R. Larry. Take a look at your existing procedures to zone in on how things are currently done. Cost-Benefit Analysis Purdue University; Policy Memo Requirements and Guidelines, 2012-2013 edition. Herman, Luciana. We hope that policy analysts, applied and academic researchers will find this publication useful. Once you familiarize yourself with them, go ahead and use the editable templates below to start planning right away. Since most policy memos do not have a formal conclusion, the cost-benefit analysis can act as your conclusion by summarizing the key differences among policy alternatives and recommended courses of action. VI. The style and arrangement of an effectively written memo can differ because no two policies, nor their intended audience of readers, are exactly the same. Avoid lengthy digressions and superfluous narration that can distract the reader from understanding the policy problem. In the social and behavioral sciences, it is important to always provide sufficient information to allow other researchers to adopt or replicate your methodology. Review your memo and make sure you have clearly delineated who could be helped and who could be potentially harmed or excluded from benefiting from your recommended policy actions. This is followed by a short justification for writing the memo, why a decision needs to be made [answering the “So What?” question], and an outline of the recommendations you make or key themes the reader should keep in mind. Just as you should note limitations in an original research study, a policy memo should describe the weaknesses of your analysis. Provide a complete and informative cover page that includes the document title, date, the full names and titles of the writer or writers [i.e., Joe Smith, Student, Department of Political Science, University of Southern California]. It is almost a given that you will encounter problems when collecting or generating your data, or, gaps will exist in existing data or archival materials. If you choose to argue for maintaining the current policy trajectory, be concise in identifying and systematically refuting all relevant policy options. University of Michigan--Dearborn, 2006; Writing Effective Memos. precise in how your ideas are presented and to avoid writing that uses too many words or excessively technical expressions. S-Cool Revision. If you identify one or more of them, you should rewrite or re-organize the content accordingly. Azevedo, L.F. et al. 5. Use of non-textual elements -- review all tables, charts, figures, graphs, or other non-textual elements and make sure they are labeled correctly. Irrelevant Detail Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal 3 (2008):159-168; Schneider, Florian. This is how scholarship grows and branches out into new intellectual territory. Place the limitation within the context of a critical issue that needs further study in concurrence with possible implementation [i.e., findings indicate service learning promotes civic engagement, but there is a lack of data on the types of service learning programs that exist among high schools in South Central Los Angeles]. Writing professionally does not imply that you can’t be passionate about your topic, but your policy recommendations should be evidence-based and grounded in solid reasoning and a succinct writing style. ANOTHER NOTE: If you are conducting a qualitative analysis of a research problem, the methodology section generally requires a more elaborate description of the methods used as well as an explanation of the processes applied to gathering and analyzing of data than is generally required for studies using quantitative methods. Harvard University; How to Write a Public Policy Memo. A helpful way to delineate between them is to understand "theories" as representing different ways of characterizing the social world when you research it and "methods" as representing different ways of generating and analyzing data about that social world. A policy memo requires clear and simple language that avoids unnecessary jargon and concepts of an academic discipline. For example, if you are using a multiple choice questionnaire, readers need to know that it offered your respondents a reasonable range of answers to choose from. Harvard University; How to Write a Public Policy Memo. How to Write a Policy Memo. Finally, you should make sure you have a full bibliography and proofread your proposal repeatedly to make sure it reads well. This discussion includes describing the theoretical concepts that inform the choice of methods to be applied, placing the choice of methods within the more general nature of academic work, and reviewing its relevance to examining the research problem. Save how you interpreted the findings for the discussion section]. Department of Biology. In most cases, there are a variety of different methods you can choose to investigate a research problem. By building this compensation into your policy recommendations, you are better able to show the reader how to reduce political obstacles. However, it is very important that you use non-textual elements judiciously and only in relation to supplementing and clarifying arguments made in the text so as not to distract the reader from the main points of your memo. You have not conducted the research yet, so encapsulating the background of the subject and detailing how you are going to write it is hard. However, while theories and methods are often related, it is important that, as a researcher, you deliberately separate them in order to avoid your theories playing a disproportionate role in shaping what outcomes your chosen methods produce. A qualitative approach, such as conducting interviews or content analysis of archival texts, can yield exciting new insights about a research problem, but it should not be undertaken simply because you have a disdain for running a simple regression. Evidence-based University of California, Berkeley; Memo: Audience and Purpose. Below is a general template adapted from the “Policy Memo Requirements and Guidelines, 2012-2013 edition” published by the Institute for Public Policy Studies at the University of Denver and from suggestions made in the book, A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem-Solving [Eugene Bardach. With this in mind, the page length of your methods section will generally be less than any other section of your paper except the conclusion. As much as possible, this criteria should be derived from your cost/benefit analysis. You should not approach writing a policy memo in the same way as you would an academic research paper. The methodology section of your paper should be thorough but concise. Provide specific criteria to assess either the success or failure of the policies you are recommending. Student Learning Center. The reader should expect your recommendations to be based upon evidence that the problem exists and of the consequences [both good and bad] of adopting particular policy alternatives. The Writing Lab and The OWL. (Thousand Oaks, Sage Publications, 2015), pp. "Of Methods and Methodology. The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper. The methodology refers to a discussion of the underlying reasoning why particular methods were used. Literature Review II. Shadow employees to see what current procedures are. The overall content of your memo should be strategically aimed at achieving the following goal: convincing your target audience about the accuracy of your analysis and, by extension, that your policy recommendations are valid. It is well organized and structured in a clear and concise style that assumes the reader possesses limited knowledge of, as well as little time to conduct research about, the topic of concern. Explicit Transparency Institute for Public Policy Studies. Thompson Writing Program, Writing Studio. Do not ignore these problems or pretend they did not occur. Research Proposals can vary depending on the length of study: they can be made for everything from a 5,000 word undergraduate dissertation to a full-scale Ph.D Thesis. Presentation Style Bardach, Eugene and Eric M. Pataschnik. Include a table of contents and list of figures and charts, if necessary. For example, you need to ensure that you have a large enough sample size to be able to generalize and make recommendations based upon the findings. What is an Action Plan. The title of the policy memo should be formally written and specific to the policy issue [e.g., “Charter Schools, Fair Housing, and Legal Standards: A Call for Equal Treatment”]. A description of a research study's method should not be confused with a description of the sources of information. The description of how you prepared to study the research problem, how you gathered the data, and the protocol for analyzing the data should be organized chronologically. Use one paragraph to develop one idea or argument and make that idea or argument explicit within the first one or two sentences. There are a few ways you can investigate or research existing processes: Interview those involved in day-to-day tasks. Conduct thorough research. Be sure your analysis is thorough and takes into account all factors that may influence possible strategies that could advance a recommended set of solutions. If these elements are located in appendices, make sure references to them within the text is correct [i.e., reference to Figure 2 is actually the table you want the reader to look at]. Tips on Writing a Policy Memo. In this sense, most policy memos possess a component of advocacy and advice intended to promote evidence-based dialog about an issue. It is a good idea to write the Research Proposal around this. Social Work Research Proposal Writing Guide. VI. Strategic Recommendations Unlike an essay, you should complete a Research Proposal long before you need to hand it in so that you can re-read it again and again to make sure it is clear and concise. This is usually where other research about the problem or issue of concern is summarized. United Nations; Writing Effective Memos. An action plan is a checklist for the steps or tasks you need to complete in order to achieve the goals you have set. The purpose is never to base your policy recommendations on future scenarios that are unlikely to occur or that do not appear realistic to your targeted readers. Institute for Public Policy Studies. But, as it is built on the extensive literature of policy research, policy paper writing and publishing, it could also be the basis of training courses on policy paper writing. Kallet, Richard H. 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