Upon reviewing the materials for the week, is there a particular area of policy you would be most intrigued about performing an analysis in? Why is that?

Please answer the three questions with 200 words each

1.If you could perform a policy analysis in any policy area, what would the specific area be, and why?
Hello everyone,

Upon reviewing the materials for the week, is there a particular area of policy you would be most intrigued about performing an analysis in? Why is that?

With respect to my perspective on this question, there was an interesting article I came across in the FHSU Library online about a policy analysis that finds indicators of child welfare improved when multiple organizations collaborated together within the community to provide child welfare services (Colvin & Miller, 2018). This made me consider whether multiple organizations collaborating together is also beneficial in senior care and welfare services. Could what was observed with child welfare be replicated in welfare services for individuals from a totally different age demographic? In other words, is community integration of organizations working together still necessary for senior welfare services? It sounds like a research project worth exploring.

Reference

Colvin, M., & Miller, S. (2018). Serving clients and the community better: A mixedmethods analysis of benefits experienced when organizations collaborate in child welfare. Child & Family Social Work, 23(4), 666-675.

2.What are some potential other occupations other than medicine and journalism that policy analysis work can be compared to?
Hello all,

Do you agree with the position in the video lecture materials that policy analysis can be considered similar to work in the field of medicine and journalism? Explain your reasoning. Do you think there are any other occupations that policy analysts should be compared to? Give some justification by discussing aspects from the course materials and information you find from peer-reviewed works at the FHSU Library online.

As there are different specialties of policy analysis, such as foreign policy analysis (Hudson, 2013) and education policy analysis (Tatto, 2012), can a case be made that it is much too difficult to compare policy analysts to any given occupation given that policy analysts can specialize in such diverse areas? I would be curious to hear your thoughts!

References

Hudson, V. (2013). Foreign Policy Analysis : Classic and Contemporary Theory (2nd Edition). Blue Ridge Summit, PA, USA: Rowman & Littlefield.

Tatto, M. (2012). Learning and Doing Policy Analysis in Education (Vol. 16, Comparative and International Education). Rotterdam: Sense.

3.Which potential difficulty of performing a policy analysis stands out most to you as you start reviewing the early materials?
Hello everyone,

As mentioned in the video lecture materials, performing a policy analysis requires a careful attention to detail that is rigorous, impartial, and completed as quickly as possible. An example of a potential difficulty in policy analysis is attempting to gain a clearer sense of policy from what has already been observed in other U.S. states. States will often implement policies differently, as each state has their own political culture and values/predispositions.

One example of this is from the work of Rinfret, Cook, and Pautz (2014) in their examination of fracking rules in Colorado, Ohio, and New York. It is not necessarily clear that a policy analysis can help decision-makers in a state make their own rules/guidelines about fracking by looking to what has already been observed in states that might be very different from their own in terms of aspects like political ideology and environmental conditions.

What are some other potential difficulties that come to mind as you have reviewed the assigned materials and looked at academic sources from the FHSU Library online?

Reference

Rinfret, S., Cook, J. J., & Pautz, M. C. (2014). Understanding State Rulemaking Processes: Developing Fracking Rules in Colorado, New York, and Ohio. Review of Policy Research, 31(2), 88-104.