Overview
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Academic contacts
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Offerings
MURDOCH-S1-EXT-2018-ONGOING
MURDOCH-S1-INT-2018-ONGOING
Enrolment rules
Enrolment in a graduate-level course.
Students who have successfully completed SSH616 Policy Research and Evaluation may not enrol in this unit for credit.
Other learning activities
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Learning activities
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Learning outcomes
1.
Demonstrate how research and evaluation independently and jointly contribute to policy development, implementation and improvement;
2.
Demonstrate an awareness of and ability to apply ethical and practice standards that guide evaluation design, application and use;
3.
Critically analyse more than one approach to policy evaluation;
4.
Recognise key contextual factors and adapt policy research and evaluation appropriately;
5.
Design and plan an evaluation of a policy in your area of work;
6.
Defensibly link the empirical outcomes or results of evaluation studies to their practical decision-making or policy considerations.
Assessments
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Additional information
Unit content:The aim of this unit is to introduce the theoretical and practical underpinning of public policy research and evaluation. This approach enables us to differentiate between policy research and evaluation and to work towards an understanding that helps distinguish between these two aspects of the policy cycle. We also explore the influence of different perspectives on policy development, research and evaluation.
This unit considers the role of evidence-based research and systematic analysis in the development of policy and identifies key quality issues when critiquing policy research studies. Importantly, it demonstrates the key function of policy evaluation as part of policy learning processes. The unit will assist students to acquire the critical capacities and technical skills used in the generation, development and evaluation of policy initiatives. Their understanding of public policy will be enhanced through this process of exploration. In addition, will we will look closely at a number of public policies, to better understand their characteristics and how we might measure their efficiency and effectiveness. Ultimately, the unit's purpose is to develop the ability to use systematic, practical research and evaluation in the service of effective decision making around public policy. At the conclusion of the unit students should be equipped to critcially assess policy research studies as well as plan and undertake a small policy evaluation study.