Governments and bureaucracies constantly endeavor to evaluate policies and programs for
efficiency. Such Estimation of efficacy is critical to foster improvements in policy outcomes.
All contemporary policy challenges demand evaluation of some kind. For instance:
Is the climate changing? How fast? What is the accuracy of our measurement methods? Should we be reducing
carbon emissions at a faster rate?
Are policies attempting to reduce teenage pregnancy successfully delivered? Do some parts of the country have higher
rates of adolescent pregnancy?
Is there a racial bias/gender bias/sexual bias in the selection process? For example, does the US Senate take
more time to act on female nominees? How do we estimate the validity of such a complaint?
If North Korea launches a nuclear-armed missile against the US homeland, what is the probability our national
missile defenses will work? Given the probabilities, how can American foreign policies be designed to deter North
Korea?
What do past trade negotiations teach us about the efficacy and outcomes of President Biden’s trade policies with
various countries?
As a public affairs student and future policymaker, you must acquire the skills to perform such an
evaluation. Analytical Methods for Global Policy Studies introduces you to a subset of quantitative
and qualitative methods often used in evaluating public policies and programs.
The goal of this course is to prepare you to rigorously evaluate the sorts of questions described
above and make you ready for your future careers. Analytical Methods for Global Policy Studies
explores the use of probability, statistics, data analysis, and qualitative case study techniques to
evaluate policies and programs. While learning to understand and apply these methodological tools
is an important focus, the larger goal is to make you an intelligent consumer and judge policy
prescriptions based on these methods.
Through various real-world examples or published research, we discuss how to translate policy
questions into defensible research designs, assemble data, analyze, and interpret and present the
results. In the course, special attention is given to understanding the validity of underlying
assumptions and detecting faulty reasoning. The desired outcome is for the course participants to
gain a deeper appreciation for the strengths and limitations of quantitative and qualitative analysis t0
understand policy issues and choices. Along the way, students become proficient in using Microsoft
Excel, an excellent general-purpose tool for performing probability and statistical evaluation.