Synthesizing Evidence for Decision-Making

Policy makers—and the analysts who support them—are flooded with various forms of evidence, ranging from anecdotes to rigorous randomly controlled studies. This evidence comes from multiple sources, affecting different populations and occurring in varied contexts.  There is often both a lot of evidence and yet little evidence that easily fits the relevant context of policy development and decision making.  This class will explore how policy decisions get framed, how evidence fits with decision framing, various definitions of “evidence based” policy, and some of the methods that can be used to summarize and synthesize evidence, such as systematic reviews and meta-analysis.  Examples will be drawn from U.S. social policy, but students can explore other issue areas in individual assignments.