policy analysis thesis

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

• View all journals
• My Account Login
• Explore content
• About the journal
• Publish with us
• Sign up for alerts
• Open access
• Published: 01 May 2023

What are the core concerns of policy analysis? A multidisciplinary investigation based on in-depth bibliometric analysis

• Yuxue Yang   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8772-1024 1 , 2 ,
• Xuejiao Tan 1 ,
• Yafei Shi 1 &
• Jun Deng 1 , 2  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  10 , Article number:  190 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

7240 Accesses

2 Citations

9 Altmetric

Metrics details

• Environmental studies
• Medical humanities
• Social policy

Policy analysis provides multiple methods and tools for generating and transforming policy-relevant information and supporting policy evolution to address emerging social problems. In this study, a bibliometric analysis of a large number of studies on historical policy analysis was performed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the distribution and evolution of policy problems in different fields among countries. The analysis indicates that policy analysis has been a great concern for scholars in recent two decades, and is involved in multiple disciplines, among which the dominant ones are medicine, environment, energy and economy. The major concerns of policy analysts and scholars are human health needs, environmental pressures, energy consumption caused by economic growth and urbanization, and the resulting demand for sustainable development. The multidisciplinary dialog implies the complicated real-world social problems that calls for more endeavors to develop a harmonious society. A global profiling for policy analysis demonstrates that the central policy problems and the corresponding options align with national development, for example, developing countries represented by China are faced with greater environmental pressures after experiencing extensive economic growth, while developed countries such as the USA and the UK pay more attention to the social issues of health and economic transformation. Exploring the differences in policy priorities among countries can provide a new inspiration for further dialog and cooperation on the development of the international community in the future.

Similar content being viewed by others

Scientific evidence on the political impact of the Sustainable Development Goals

Frank Biermann, Thomas Hickmann, … Birka Wicke

Transforming power of research and development on inequality and well-being: a European Union perspective within the circular economy framework

Marinko Skare, Beata Gavurova & Martin Rigelsky

Mapping the community: use of research evidence in policy and practice

Elizabeth N. Farley-Ripple, Kathryn Oliver & Annette Boaz

Introduction

Social problems are evolving with the rapid development of economy, and the problems mankind is facing and options they choose reflect the developmental demand. Policy is a political action with specific subjects, targets, and strategies in a certain period of time, which primarily aims to create a healthy environment for the development of society (Porter, 1998 ; Lasswell and Kaplan, 1950 ; Yang et al., 2020 ). As for policy analysis, the definition varies a lot. According to William Dunn ( 2015 ), policy analysis is ‘an applied social science discipline, which uses multiple methods of inquiry and argument to produce and transform policy-relevant information that may be utilized in political settings to resolve policy problems.’ Jabal et al. ( 2019 ) defined that policy analysis provides methods and tools for assessing whether a policy is ‘correct and fit for their use’ and supporting policy evolution. Manski ( 2019 ) regarded policy analysis as a shorthand term that describes the process of scientific evaluation for the impact of past public policies and prediction of the potential outcomes of future policies. More generically, policy analysis is aimed to understand who develops and implements certain policies, for whom, by what, with what effects, and what techniques and tools can be used, and so on (Blackmore and Lauder, 2005 ; Collins, 2005 ).

Accordingly, regarding the typology of policy analysis, three categories can be established based on ontology and epistemology (Fig. 1 ) (Bacchi, 1999 ; Colebatch, 2006 ; Jennifer et al., 2018 ): (1) Positivism paradigm. Focusing on policy facts, this orientation of policy analysis aims to identify policy problems and weighting the optimal solution guided by the theory of economic frameworks, basic scientific models, and behavioral psychology through objective analysis. Economic analysis, cost-benefit analysis, quantitative modeling and nudge politics are the most commonly used methods in this orientation (Althaus et al., 2013 ; Jennifer et al., 2018 ); (2) Constructivism paradigm. In this orientation, policy is conceptualized as ‘the interaction of values, interests and resources guided through institutions and mediated through politics’ (Davis et al., 1993 ) rather than a comprehensively rational and linear process in which analysis involves policy agenda setting, policy processes, policy networks and governance, mainly focusing on values, actors and political rationality of policy. Theoretical frameworks, such as multiple stream theory, behavioral psychology and advocacy coalition framework, etc. are typically used in such orientation (Kingdon, 1984 ; Browne et al., 2019 ; Sabatier and Weible, 2014 ); (3) Interpretivism paradigm. This orientation is focused on interpreting how policy problems can be defined or constructed and how the problem framing shapes the possible policy responses (Bardach, 2000 ). A substantial body of research has discussed the theory underlying the problem, framing and governmentality using narrative analysis, discourse analysis, ethnographic methods, etc. (Hajer, 1995 ; Hajer, 2006 ; Martson and Mcdonald, 2006 ). Therefore, a systematic review of policy analysis can present the past and present policy problems of concern and the relevant possible options from an evolutionary perspective.

The framework was organized according to Jennifer et al. ( 2018 ).

The profoundly complex and diversified realistic demands such as equity and sustainability (Akadiri et al., 2020 ), the changes of energy planning (Banerjee et al., 2000 ; Pandey et al., 2000 ; Pandey, 2002 ) and transition of modern markets (Blackman and Wu, 1999 ) have important implication on policy decisions (Munda, 2004 ). A multidisciplinary investigation on policy analysis can provide more reflections on how to develop a harmonious society. Studies have shown that the priority of policy agenda is determined by three key factors: the nature of the issue (Shiffman and Smith, 2007 ), the policy environment (Adams and Judd, 2016 ; Sweileh, 2021 ) and the capabilities of proponents (Shawar and Shiffman, 2017 ). Due to differences in geography, economics, politics and many other aspects, social concerns and policy priorities vary enormously in different countries. In the global context, how countries set policy priorities in different stages of development, and how policy priorities align with the national development remain unknown. So, developing a global profiling for policy analysis can present the differences in core concerns of polices among countries, thus promoting further dialog and cooperation on the development of the international community in the future.

Bibliometric analysis has long been used as a statistical tool to systematically review scientific literature (Hood and Concepcion, 2001 ). A rigorous bibliometric analysis can provide systematic insights into previous publications, which can not only delve into the academic research community of active and influential researchers, but also identify the current research topics, and further explore potential directions for future research (Fahimnia et al., 2015 ). Bibliometrics has been widely applied in a wide range of sectors and specific domains, for example, mapping and visualizing the knowledge progress avenues and research collaboration patterns of cultural heritage (Vlase and Lähdesmäki, 2023 ), analyzing the sub-areas and core aspects of disease (Baskaran et al., 2021 ), visualizing and graphing the evolution of research related to sustainable development goals (Belmonte-Ureña et al., 2021 ), and studying policies, such as agricultural policy (Fusco, 2021 ), medical information policy (Yuxi et al., 2018 ), and science, technology and innovation policy (Zhang et al., 2016 ). However, the research trajectory and focus of policy analysis around the world remain a black box. In the present paper, a bibliometric analysis was performed from three dimensions: time, intensity, and scope, which referred to hot point changes over time, the quantity of research and the core concerns of policy, respectively.

In the present paper, a bibliometric analysis of a large number of studies on historical policy analysis was performed to answer the questions: (1) What core concerns are reflected in the policy analysis and how does these core concerns reflect real-world social problems? (2) How do these core concerns change over time? (3) What are the differences in core concerns among countries and what drives those differences? From an evolutionary perspective, this paper aims to uncover the past and present policy problems of concern and the relevant possible options, thus providing a clue for future policy analysis. The analysis of the evolution and differences in policy problems among countries may provide a view of the development context of different countries and put forward new inspiration and hope for further dialog and cooperation on the development of the international community in the future. Furthermore, another possible key sustainability implication with respect to the core concerns of policy analysis is to provide a reference for exploring the gaps between academic research and policy agenda.

Literature research

In the present study, Web of Science (WOS) Core Collection database was used for data retrieval (Vlase and Lähdesmäki, 2023 ). This research was conducted in four steps. Firstly, articles related to policy analysis were searched to select the most cited ones, which reflect the most influential research and the cutting-edge knowledge over time. MerigÓ et al. ( 2016 ) and Markard et al. ( 2012 ) weighted the most citation in an absolute term that means the total citations of all time. According to Fusco ( 2021 ) and Essential Science Indicators, the most citation was weighted in a relative term, which means the citation number in the publication year. The top 1% papers, compared to other articles in the academic field published in the same publication year, were included in this study following the refining principle of Essential Science Indicators, ensuring that the impact of these articles does not fade with time. Secondly, the selected papers were further screened, and narrowed down to different collected datasets for in-depth analysis according to the results of screening. Thirdly, statistical analysis and network visualization of authorship, organization and geographical distribution, topics and their chronological trends in each dataset were performed using VOSviewer software, which is freely available to construct and visualize bibliometric network (see www.vosviewer.com ) (Van-Eck and Waltman, 2010 ). Lastly, the association between policy analysis and academic articles was explored in different fields.

Dataset construction

Originally, a total of 118,535 articles related to policy analysis were retrieved using the strategy “TS = (policy analysis)”. For further discipline analysis, the most cited articles were selected with the quick filtering toolbar of WOS. Consequently, 1287 most cited papers of policy analysis were included in dataset 1. Then co-citation analysis of journals was performed to provide clues for discipline research (Supplementary Table 2 ). Accordingly, policy analysis-related articles from journals in the medicine field were selected for dataset 2, and 7963 articles were finally included. Similarly, 15,705 articles from journals in the field of environment were included in dataset 3; 6253 articles from journals in the field of energy in dataset 4; 1268 articles from journals in the field of economy in dataset 5; and 2243 articles from multidisciplinary journals in dataset 6. According to Journal Citation Reports of WOS, multidisciplinary journals refer to those journals in which articles involve at least two disciplines, such as Ecological Economics that involves ecology and economics. The search strategy of each database is shown in Table 1 .

Network visualization

Publication information of policy analysis was presented, including publication number, countries and organizations of key players, which reflects the value of and actual needs for policy analysis. Then, VOSviewer was used for network visualization of co-authorship, co-occurrence and citation. Co-authorship analysis for organizations and countries, which met the thresholds identified more than 5 articles for further investigation of the key players’ geographical distributions and their collaboration patterns. Co-occurrence analysis for all keywords based on the frequency of keywords used in the same article was carried out for topic mining (Kern et al., 2019 ). Citation analysis was performed to investigate the citation attributes received by other items. Meaningless or common terms were removed (Zhang and Porter, 2021 ). The research framework is shown in Fig. 2 .

The research framework for multidisciplinary investigation in policy analysis.

Publication information of policy analysis

Firstly, the publication number of policy analysis was determined. A total of 118,535 policy analysis articles were published between 2003 and 2021 (Fig. 3 ), showing a surge in the development of policy analysis with an exponential growth rate of 53.98 and 84.03% in the last 5 years (2017–2021) and 10 years (2012–2021), respectively.

Source : Data was collected from Web of Science (WOS) Core Collection database on the topic (TS) “policy analysis”.

For network construction, 1287 most cited papers were screened. The collaboration network of countries was visualized and illustrated, showing that 112 countries have published the most cited policy analysis articles. As for the co-authorship of countries and organizations, 2286 universities were identified, and 193 of them from 59 countries met the criteria of network analysis, among which the universities from the USA (University of Washington, Harvard University), the UK (University of Oxford, University of Cambridge) and China (University of Chinese Academy of Sciences) had the largest number of links and the strongest willingness to cooperate with other organizations (Fig. 4A, B and Supplementary Table 1 ). The willingness of cooperation not only meets the needs of academic research, but also conforms to the general expectations of the international community. Citation analysis for sources identified 51 journals from five different fields (Fig. 4C and Supplementary Table 2 ), in which environment-related journals accounted for the largest number (e.g., Journal of Cleaner Production, Science of The Total Environment , Global Environmental Change-Human and Policy Dimensions , Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment and Environmental Modeling & Software) , followed by medicine-related journals ( The Lancet , JAMA , The Lancet Infectious Diseases , PLOS One and The Lancet Global Health) , the journals of energy science ( Sustainable Cities and Society , Energy Policy , Applied Energy , Renewable Energy and Energy ), the journals of economy ( International Journal of Production Economics and Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice ), and then several multidisciplinary journals ( Ecological Economics , Nature , PNAS, Nature Communications and European Journal of Operational Research ).

A Co-authorship analysis for countries; B Co-authorship analysis for organizations; C Citation network; D Co-occurrence network.

In the co-word network of policy analysis, four main clusters were displayed: the blue cluster concerned with environmental policy problems; the green cluster related to medicine (e.g., public health, prevalence and mortality of disease); the red cluster centering policy, such as policy framework, policy systems, and policy implementation; and the yellow cluster mainly concerned with energy (e.g., energy consumption, energy efficiency and electricity generation) (Fig. 4D and Table 2 ). Simultaneously, more details related to real-world social issues were also found, such as the common and core concerns about carbon emission, economic growth, prevalence and mortality of disease. Additionally, management is in the spotlight (e.g., system, framework, efficiency and challenge).

Publication information of policy analysis in different fields

Policy analysis-related articles mainly involved the fields of medicine, environment, energy, economy and multidiscipline. The publication information in different fields was investigated. First, the volume growth trend over time was traced. Generally, a growing number of articles were published annually. The most obvious growth was found in policy analysis in environment, followed by medicine and energy, and the growth in economy and multidiscipline was relatively stable (Fig. 5 ). Specifically, the first increase in the publication number of policy analysis in medicine was seen in 2009, and then a steady growth was maintained, followed by a second acceleration after 2019, which may relate to the pandemic of H1N1 influenza and COVID-19, respectively (WHO, 2012 ; Wouters et al., 2021 ). A great growth in environmental policy analysis was observed after 2015, and a linear growth after 2017. In energy policy analysis, the first increase occurred in 2009, reaching a peak in 2013, followed by a second increase in 2016, reaching another peak in 2020. Then the publication information about organizations and countries was explored. The top five countries and institutions with the largest number of policy analysis articles in different fields are presented in Supplementary Table 3 . The results showed that the USA, the UK and China attached great importance to policy analysis in all of these fields.

Publication dynamics of policy analysis-related articles in the fields of medicine, environment, energy, economy and multidiscipline between 2003 and 2021.

Policy analysis in the field of medicine

A total of 8381 organizations from 177 countries contributed to medical policy analysis. Further investigation showed that universities from the UK (e.g., University of London, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and University College London), the USA (e.g., Harvard University and University of California San Francisco), Canada (e.g., University of Toronto) and Australia (e.g., University of Melbourne, University of Sydney) contributed the most to medical policy analysis with the greatest willingness to collaborate both domestically and internationally. By contrast, Chinese universities, such as Peking University, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Zhejiang University, were more prone to domestic collaboration (Fig. 6A, B ).

A Co-authorship analysis for countries; B Co-authorship analysis for organizations; C Co-occurrence network; D Overlay network.

Co-occurrence analysis of keywords showed that of the 16,719 keywords identified from 7963 retrieved items, 1778 keywords met the threshold. In addition to the three core topics “medicine”, “policy” and “health” (e.g. health policy, public health), the mortality, prevalence, risk factors as well as prevention of diseases have been the key focus of medical policies. Additionally, the issues of children and adolescents, such as physical activity, overweight and childhood obesity, have also attracted medical scientists and policy analysts. Figure 6D shows the average annual overlay network of keywords. The most recent concerns are the prevalence of COVID-19 and relevant topics associated with SARS-CoV-2 and coronavirus. Moreover, sex-specific mortality, life satisfaction and affordable care act are also the hot topics in recent years (Fig. 6C, D ).

Policy analysis in the field of environment

Co-authorship analysis showed that 9060 organizations from 160 countries contributed to environmental policy analysis, among which universities from China played a key role, especially University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing Normal University, North China Electric Power University and Beijing Institute of Technology (Fig. 7A, B and Supplementary Table 3 ). Of the 44,213 keywords in retrieved 1 5705 articles related to environmental policy analysis, 3638 met the threshold of keyword co-occurrence analysis. The co-word network showed that apart from the words with vague meanings such as “policy”, “impact” and “management”, “carbon emission”, “climate change” and “sustainability” were the most visible in the network. Note that the terms like “energy”, “economic growth” and “urbanization” were also easy to notice (Fig. 7C ). The analysis for the average annual overlay showed that “kyoto protocol”, “acid deposition” and “policy development”, etc. were earlier terms, while “plastic pollution”, “Cross-Sectionally Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag” and “population structure”, though lightly weighted, were the most recent ones. The color of overlay network visualization of environmental policy analysis appeared to be yellow, indicating that environmental problems have attracted researchers all over the world in past decades (Fig. 7D ). The abovementioned results demonstrated the positive attitude of policy analysts and indicated a shift of their attention over time, possibly due to the evolution of environmental problems.

Policy analysis in the field of energy

The collaboration network showed that 3668 organizations from 117 countries performed policy analysis in energy. The top five organizations were Tsinghua University, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen University, North China Electric Power University and Beijing Institute of Technology, all of which showed strong willingness to collaborate both domestically and internationally. The network showed that there was complex knowledge interaction and flow in the citation of energy policy analysis (Fig. 8A, B ). Of the 15,027 keywords in retrieved 6253 articles, 1225 met the threshold. Co-occurrence network (Fig. 8C ) revealed that policy analysis in energy was primarily focused on the demand for renewable energy (such as “wind power”, “solar power”, “bioenergy”) due to emission (e.g. “carbon emission”, “greenhouse gas emission”) and energy consumption. The terms “restructuring”, “discount rates” and “kyoto protocol” were early noticed by researchers, and the analysis of kyoto protocol was performed earlier in energy than that in ecology. Then, “green power”, “green certificates” and “energy policy analysis” gradually came into the eyes of analysts. Similarly, the prevalence of COVID-19 was the greatest concern of energy policy analysts, followed by “energy communities” and “renewable energy consumption” (Fig. 8D ).

Policy analysis in the field of economy

1144 organizations from 67 countries were found to contribute almost the same to policy analysis in economy. Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Delft University of Technology, University of Leeds, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and University of Sydney had the largest number of publications. Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Delft University of Technology, University of British Columbia, University of Sydney and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute had the highest collaboration (Fig. 9A, B ). Of the 5970 keywords in retrieved 1268 papers, 395 met the threshold. The co-word network showed that in addition to the general words frequently used in articles (e.g. “policy”, “impact”, “system”), the specific words reflecting the most common topics for policy problem of economy were “transport” (associated with vehicles, public transport, travel behavior, etc.), “supply chain” (related to supply chain management, supply chain coordination, green supply chain, etc.), and “inventory” (related to the model, control and system of inventory, etc.) (Fig. 9C ). The overlay network analysis showed that economic policy analysts had an early interest in inventory-related topics and the issue of supply chain management, but has been concerned with the sustainability of supply chain management only in recent years. Additionally, topics like “circular economy”, “life-cycle assessment”, “industry 4.0” and “automated vehicles” also attracted scholars’ attention. (Fig. 9D ).

Policy analysis in multidiscipline

In the co-authorship network, universities such as Stanford University, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Maryland, University of California, Berkeley and University of Cambridge had the most publications and a high collaboration. University of California Irvine had fewer publications but relatively higher link, showing that this university was strongly willing to cooperate with other organizations (Fig. 10A, B ). Of the 9467 keywords in retrieved 2243 articles, 648 met the threshold. This multidisciplinary research revealed the relationship between economy, environment and energy. However, there were obstacles to extend the relationship between them. Co-word network demonstrated that the policy analysis articles published on the multidisciplinary journals were mainly focused on the topics of “climate change”, “sustainability” and “inventory”. The term “climate change” is mainly related to issues of environmental resources (e.g., land use, deforestation, biodiversity), greenhouse gas emission (especially carbon emission) and energy consumption. The term “sustainability” is mainly connected with the relationship between environmental resources and economic growth. In addition to COVID-19, the terms “big data” and “circular economics” were on the cut edge (Fig. 10C, D ).

Policy analysis aims to understand what is the governments’ focal point, investigate why and how governments issue policies, evaluate the effects of certain policies (Browne et al., 2019 ), and reflect political agenda driven by social concerns or international trends (Kennedy et al., 2019 ). In this study, a bibliometric analysis of a large number of publications on historical policy analysis was carried out to explore the policy problems of concern and the relevant possible options from an evolutionary perspective, and provide a guide for future research. From 2003 to 2021, the number of publications on policy analysis grew exponentially. Before 2011, little attention was paid to policy analysis, but in recent decades, more importance has been attached to policy analysis around the world due to increasingly prominent social problems, especially the human health needs, degradation of environment, energy consumption and the relationship between economy, energy and environment.

From the perspective of global visibility, the policy analysis in medicine has received increasing attention from scholars from 8381 organizations of 177 countries, indicating that health problems, though not numerically dominant, have the widest coverage. Among these countries, the USA, the UK, Australia, Canada and China are the major contributors. The developed countries, such as the USA, the UK, Canada and Australia, have strongly supported addressing complex public health issues by developing effective policy responses (Moore et al., 2011 ; Atkinson et al., 2015 ). Typically, they spend the most on health, with 12318, 5387, 5905 and 5627 dollars per capital, respectively, while the developing countries spend relatively less, such as 894 dollars per capital in China and 231 dollars per capital in India (OECD, 2022 ). Great attempts have been made to analyze the burden of prevalence and mortality of diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes both globally and regionally (Yusuf et al., 2020 ; Rudd et al., 2020 ; Kearney et al., 2005 ). Other health issues of women, children and adolescents have been monitored and measured for years in many countries that respond to the Countdown to 2030 (Countdown to 2030 Collaboration, 2018 ). In addition, the worldwide outbreak of epidemics such as H1N1 influenza and COVID-19 pandemic has caused excess mortality and enormous social and economic costs all over the world, which greatly affect social policy and reveal the fragility of health systems to shocks (Wouters et al., 2021 ; Chu et al., 2020 ). By analyzing the global burden of disease, scholars have recommended policy-makers to give priority to the prevention and management of relevant diseases (Kearney et al., 2005 ).

Environmental policy analysis involving 15,705 articles has attracted largest attention from policy analysts and scientists. Greenhouse gas emission (mainly carbon emission) resulting in climate change and environmental degradation remains to be the most threatening and urgent issue, and has attracted attention of governments and the society (Tang et al., 2021 ; Ahmad et al., 2019 ). Different countries issued different climate policies aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Kyoto protocol, ratified by 180 countries, committed to reduce the GHG emissions by 5% by 2012, compared with the 1990 emission levels (Kuosmanen et al., 2009 ). In the EU climate policy framework in 2014, the carbon emissions were projected to reduce by 40% by 2030, and by 80% by 2050 (European Council, 2014 ). The relationship between urbanization and environmental pressure was observed in the present research. During urbanization, the consumption of resources such as land, water and fuel has increased significantly, causing serious ecological pressure such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, land erosion and pollution. With the acceleration of economic growth and social commercialization, urbanization further increases the demands for housing, food, transportation, electricity and so on, which in turn aggravates the ecological pressure because of natural resource consumption, climate change, over-extraction and pollution (Ahmed et al., 2019 ; Wang et al., 2019 ). Hence, urbanization policies with restrictions on unplanned urban sprawl are under the way (Ahmed et al., 2020 ).

Energy is another big agenda for policy analysis. The close connection between energy and emission has been presented noticeably in this study. Governments have come to a consensus that there should be greater balance between ecological purity, energy supply and economic well-being if a country strives for healthy and sustainable economic development (Alola and Joshua, 2021 ). New environmental policies should be designed to control environmental pollution through reducing pollutant emissions and sustaining economic growth, and should be incorporated into governments’ macro policies (Halicioglu, 2009 ). Transformation of energy sector was on agenda to meet the ambitious goals (Cong, 2013 ). The UK, the USA and China are the global leaders in reducing actual emissions and increasing energy supply. In the USA, the shale revolution brought global attention to energy supply and remains to be a driving force for energy policies. Low-cost shale gas combined with the policy support for renewables have notably reduced CO 2 emissions over the past decades. Environmental deregulation is another central focus, which may affect the trajectory of greenhouse gas emission (International Energy Agency, IEA, 2019a , 2019b ). In the UK, the policy objectives of actual emission reduction, carbon budgets setting and investment in energy technology and innovation reflect the ambition for decarbonization (IEA, 2019a , 2019b ). As is known, China’s GDP grows rapidly, which has multiplied more than 170 times since the founding of the People’s Republic of China 73 years ago. However, the extensive economic growth mode depending on the primary and secondary industries has put high pressure on environment, such as large amounts of consumption and pollution (He et al., 2016 ; Yue et al., 2021 ; Yu and Liu, 2020 ). Data showed that the greenhouse gas emission (OECD, 2020 ) and air pollution exposure (OECD, 2022 ) in China have been far higher than those in other countries for a long time, posing great challenges to both the government and scholars. A specific policy package, such as the “Atmosphere Ten Articles”, “Soil Ten Plan” and “Water Ten Plan” from 2013 to 2016, and the “Regulation on the Implementation of the Environmental Protection Tax Law of the People’s Republic of China” in 2017, has been issued by Chinese government, aiming to improve the ecological environment. Furthermore, goals for renewable energy production were also set by scholars. Jacobson suggested that wind, water and sunlight energy should be produced by 2030, and then replace the existing energy by 2050 (Jacobson and Delucchi, 2011 ), while Lund proposed that renewable energy (the combination of biomass with wind, wave and solar) should account for 50% by 2030, and 100% by 2050 (Lund and Mathiesen, 2009 ). However, it remains unclear how many countries can achieve their stated goals. Numerous studies have shown the efforts of governments and scholars to transform the resource and energy usage-driven economic expansion to sustainable development.

From the economics perspective, the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis demonstrates the relationship between environmental quality and economic output, which has been proved by empirical studies (Fodha and Zaghdoud, 2010 ; Saboori et al., 2012 ). Additionally, the relationship between economic growth and energy consumption has also been confirmed (Shahbaz et al., 2015 ). In recent years, countries have been facing the challenge of economic structural transformation. The mode of economic growth that relies on the consumption of natural resource and waste disposal seems increasingly outdated (McDowall et al., 2017 ). Circular economy, a new mode for reconciling environmental and economic imperatives, has come into the public eye and appears to meet the common vision of sustainable development. With the increase of requirements of sustainable development and circular economy, greening of supply chain management also faces challenges, including inventory management, mode of transportation, life-cycle assessment and coordination with other areas (Ghosh and Shah, 2012 ; Ghosh and Shah, 2015 ). Thus, providing support for green supply chain supplier deserves the attention from policy-makers and practitioners.

Key findings

(1) Policy analysis has been a great concern of scholars for many years and has attracted increasing attention year by year, which reflects the value of and actual needs for policy analysis. (2) The world is facing common problems, which requires attention and efforts of the whole world, and a more harmonious social development such as the management of epidemics and complex disease, environmental-friendly development, green energy production and transformation from resource and energy usage-driven economic expansion to sustainable development is on the way. (3) Global profiling for policy analysis demonstrates that the central policy problems align with national development, which inspires further dialog and cooperation on the development of the international community in the future.

Limitations

This study has limitations. First, keywords cannot fully reflect the essential intent of an article although they are the key points of a study. Therefore, using keywords as an element for bibliometric analysis is far from enough. Second, this paper deals with academic research of policy analysis, but whether it is fully consistent with the policy agenda is unexplored. Moreover, we have shown the correlations between different phenomena, but the underlying mechanism remains indefinable.

Data availability

The datasets analyzed during the current study are available in the Dataverse repository ( https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/XZMVMN ).

Adams B, Judd K (2016) 2030 agenda and the SDGs: indicator framework, monitoring and reporting. March 18. https://www.cadtm.org/2030-Agenda-and-the-SDGs-indicator

Ahmad M, Khan Z, Rahman ZU et al. (2019) Can innovation shocks determine CO 2 emissions (CO 2 e) in the OECD economies? a new perspective. Econ Innov New Technol 1:1–21

Google Scholar  

Ahmed Z, Wang Z, Ali S (2019) Investigating the non-linear relationship between urbanization and CO2 emissions: an empirical analysis. Air Qual Atmos Health 12(8):945–953

Article   CAS   Google Scholar  

Ahmed Z, Zafar MW, Ali S (2020) Linking urbanization, human capital, and the ecological footprint in G7 countries: an empirical analysis. Sustain Citi Soc 55:1–11

Akadiri SS, Alola AA, Bekun FV et al. (2020) Does electricity consumption and globalization increase pollutant emissions? Implications for environmental sustainability target for China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27(20):25450–25460

Alola AA, Joshua U (2021) Carbon emission effect of energy transition and globalization: inference from the low-, lower middle-, upper middle-, and high-income economies. Environ Sci Poll Res 30:38276–38286

Althaus C, Bridgman P, David G (2013) The Australian policy handbook. Allen & Unwin, Sydney, p 137–153

Atkinson JA, Page A, Wells R et al. (2015) A modelling tool for policy analysis to support the design of efficient and effective policy responses for complex public health problems. Implement Sci 10(1):26

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Bacchi C (1999) Women, policy and politics: the construction of policy problems. Sage, London

Book   Google Scholar  

Bardach E (2000) A practical guide for policy analysis, 2nd ed. Chatham House, New York, pp. 2–46

Baskaran S, Agarwal A, Leisegang K et al. (2021) An in-depth bibliometric analysis and current perspective on male infertility research. World J Mens Health 39(2):302–314

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Banerjee R, Pandey R, Bhure A et al. (2000) Electricity demand estimation for village electrification. National Renewable Energy Conference, Indian Institute of Technology, Powai, Mumbai, India

Belmonte-Ureña LJ, Plaza-Úbeda JA, Vazquez-Brust D et al. (2021) Circular economy, degrowth and green growth as pathways for research on sustainable development goals: a global analysis and future agenda. Ecol Econ 185(19):107050

Article   Google Scholar  

Blackman A, Wu X (1999) Foreign direct investment in China’s power sector: trends, benefits and barriers. Energy Policy 27(12):695–711

Blackmore J, Lauder H (2005) Researching policy. In: Somekh B, Lewin C (eds) Res methods in the Soc Sci. Sage, London

Browne J, Coffey B, Cook K et al. (2019) A guide to policy analysis as a research method. Health Promot Int 34(5):1032–1044

Chu DK, Akl EA, Duda S et al. (2020) Physical distancing, face masks, and eye protection to prevent person-to-person transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet 395(10242):1973–1987

Article   CAS   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Colebatch H (2006) Accounting for policy in Australia. Public Policy 1(1):37–51

Collins T (2005) Health policy analysis: a simple tool for policy makers. Public Health 119(3):192–196

Article   MathSciNet   CAS   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Cong RG (2013) An optimization model for renewable energy generation and its application in China: A perspective of maximum utilization. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 17:94–103

Countdown to 2030 Collaboration (2018) tracking progress towards universal coverage for reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health. Lancet 389(10129):1538–1548

Davis G, Wanna J, Warhurst J et al. (1993) Public policy in Australia. Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, p 15

Dunn WN (2015) Public policy analysis. Routledge, Evanston, IL, USA

European Council (2014) European Council 23/24 October 2014—Conclusions (EUCO 169/14). European Council, Brussels

Fahimnia B, Sarkis J, Davarzani H (2015) Green supply chain management: A review and bibliometric analysis. Int J Prod Econ 162:101–114

Fodha M, Zaghdoud O (2010) Economic growth and pollutant emissions in Tunisia: An empirical analysis of the environmental Kuznets curve. Energy Policy 38(2):1150–1156

Fusco G (2021) Twenty years of common agricultural policy in Europe: a bibliometric analysis. Sustainability 13(19):1–15

Ghosh D, Shah J (2012) A comparative analysis of greening policies across supply chain structures. Int J Prod Econ 135(2):568–583

Ghosh D, Shah J (2015) Supply chain analysis under green sensitive consumer demand and cost sharing contract. Int J Prod Econ 164:319–329

Hajer M (1995) The politics of environmental discourse: ecological modernization and the policy process. Clarendon Press, Oxford

Hajer M (2006) Doing discourse analysis: Coalitions, Practices, Meaning. In: Brink van den, M. and Metze, T. (eds) Words matter in policy and planning: discourse theory and method in the social sciences.Koninklijk Nederlands Aardrijkskundig Genootschap, Utrecht

Halicioglu F (2009) An econometric study of CO 2 emissions, energy consumption, income and foreign trade in Turkey. Energy Policy 37(3):1156–1164

Article   MathSciNet   Google Scholar  

He C, Han L, Zhang RQ (2016) More than 500 million Chinese urban residents (14% of the global urban population) are imperiled by fine particulate hazard. Environ Pollut 218:558–562

Article   CAS   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Hood WW, Concepcion WS (2001) The literature of bibliometrics, cientometrics, and informetrics. Scientometrics 52(2):291–314

International Energy Agency (2019a) Energy policies of IEA countries, The United States

International Energy Agency (2019b) Energy policies of IEA countries, The United Kingdom

Jabal AA, Davari M, Bertino E et al. (2019) Methods and tools for policy analysis. ACM Comput Surv 51(6):1–35

Jacobson MZ, Delucchi MA (2011) Providing all global energy with wind, water, and solar power, Part I: Technologies, energy resources, quantities and areas of infrastructure, and materials. Energy Policy 39(3):1154–1169

Jennifer B, Brian C, Kay C et al. (2018) A guide to policy analysis as a research method. Health Promot Int5:5

Kearney PM, Whelton M, Reynolds K et al. (2005) Global burden of hypertension: analysis of worldwide data. Lancet 365(9455):217–223

Kennedy C, O’Reilly P, O’Connell R et al. (2019) Integrative review: identifying the evidence base for policy making and analysis in health care. J Adv Nurs 75(2):1–15

Kern F, Rogge KS, Howlett M (2019) Policy mixes for sustainability transitions: New approaches and insights through bridging innovation and policy studies. Res Policy 48(10):103832

Kingdon J (1984) Agendas, alternatives, and public policies. Little, Brown, Boston

Kuosmanen T, Bijsterbosch N, Dellink R (2009) Environmental cost–benefit analysis of alternative timing strategies in greenhouse gas abatement: a data envelopment analysis approach. Ecol Econ 68(6):1633–1642

Lasswell HD, Kaplan A (1950) Power and society: a framework for political inquiry. Yale University Press, New Haven, p 71

Lund H, Mathiesen BV (2009) Energy system analysis of 100% renewable energy systems-the case of Denmark in years 2030 and 2050. Energy 34(5):524–531

Manski CF (2019) Communicating uncertainty in policy analysis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 116(16):7634–7641

Article   ADS   CAS   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Markard J, Raven R, Truffer B (2012) Sustainability transitions: an emerging field of research and its prospects Research Policy 4:955–967

Martson G, Mcdonald C (2006) Analyzing social policy: a governmental approach. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, pp. 205–222

McDowall W, Geng Y, Huang B et al. (2017) Circular economy policies in China and Europe. J Ind Ecol 21(3):651–661

MerigÓ JM, Rocafort A, Aznar-AlarcÓN JP (2016) Bibliometric overview of business & economics research. J Bus Econo Manag 17(3):397–413

Munda G (2004) Social multi-criteria evaluation: methodological foundations and operational consequences. Eur J Operat Res 158(3):662–677

Article   MathSciNet   MATH   Google Scholar  

Moore G, Redman S, Haines M, Todd A (2011) What works to increase the use of research in population health policy and programs: a review. Evid Policy 7(3):277–305

OECD (2020) Air and GHG emissions (indicator) (accessed on 24 Nov 2022)

OECD (2022) Air pollution exposure (indicator) (accessed on 24 Nov 2022)

OECD (2022) Health spending (indicator) (accessed on 30 Nov 2022)

Pandey R, Banerjee R, Phulluke S et al. (2000) Framework for design and evaluation of electric supply options for a rural area. National Renewable Energy Conference, Indian Institute of Technology, Powai, Mumbai, India

Pandey R (2002) Energy policy modelling: agenda for developing countries. Energy Policy 30(2):97–106

Porter ME (1998) The Competitive Advantage of Nations, Free Press

Rudd KE, Johnson SC, Agesa KM et al. (2020) Global, regional, and national sepsis incidence and mortality, 1990–2017: analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study. Lancet 395(10219):200–211

Sabatier P, Weible C (2014) Theories of the policy process. Westview Press, Philadelphia

Saboori B, Sulaiman J, Mohd S (2012) Economic growth and CO 2 emissions in Malaysia: a cointegration analysis of the Environmental Kuznets Curve. Energy Policy 51:184–191

Shahbaz M, Loganathan N, Zeshan M et al. (2015) Does renewable energy consumption add in economic growth? An application of auto-regressive distributed lag model in Pakistan. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 44:576–585

Shawar YR, Shiffman J (2017) Generation of global political priority for early childhood development: the challenges of framing and governance. Lancet 389(10064):119–124

Shiffman J, Smith S (2007) Generation of political priority for global health initiatives: a framework and case study of maternal mortality. Lancet 370(9595):1370–1379

Sweileh WM (2021) Global research activity on elder abuse: a bibliometric analysis (1950-2017). J Immigr Minor Health 23(1):79–87

Tang K, Wang M, Zhou D (2021) Abatement potential and cost of agricultural greenhouse gases in australian dryland farming system. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28(17):21862–21873

Van-Eck NJ, Waltman L (2010) Software survey: VOSviewer, a computer program for bibliometric mapping. Scientometrics 84(2):523–538

Vlase I, Lähdesmäki T (2023) A bibliometric analysis of cultural heritage research in the humanities: the web of science as a tool of knowledge management. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 10:84

Wang ZH, Ahmed Z, Bin Z (2019) The nexus between urbanization, road infrastructure, and transport energy demand: empirical evidence from Pakistan. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 26(34):34884–34895

WHO (2012) Report of the WHO Pandemic Influenza A(H1N1) Vaccine Deployment initiative. https://www.who.int/influenza_vaccines_plan/resources/h1n1_deployment_report.pdf (accessed Dec 19, 2020)

Wouters OJ, Shadlen KC, Salcher-Konrad M et al. (2021) Challenges in ensuring global access to COVID-19 vaccines: production, affordability, allocation, and deployment. Lancet 397(10278):1023–1034

Yang C, Huang C, Su J (2020) A bibliometrics-based research framework for exploring policy evolution: a case study of China’s information technology policies. Technol Forecast Soc Change 157:120116

Yu Y, Liu HR (2020) Economic growth, industrial structure and nitrogen oxide emissions reduction and prediction in China. Atmos Pollut Res 11(7):1042–1050

Yue H, He C, Huang Q et al. (2021) Stronger policy required to substantially reduce deaths from PM2.5 pollution in China. Nat Commun 11(1):1462

Article   ADS   Google Scholar  

Yusuf S, Joseph P, Rangarajan S et al. (2020) Modifiable risk factors, cardiovascular disease, and mortality in 155 722 individuals from 21 high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries (PURE): a prospective cohort study. Lancet 395(10226):795–808

Yuxi J, Wei W, Jun L et al. (2018) Trends and characteristics of global medical informatics conferences from 2007 to 2017: a bibliometric comparison of conference publications from Chinese, American, European and the global conferences. Comput Method Prog Biomed 166:19–32

Zhang YPorter AL, Cunningham S, Chiavetta D, Newman N (2021) Parallel or intersecting lines? Intelligent bibliometrics for investigating the involvement of data science in policy analysis. IEEE Trans Eng Manag 68(5):1259–1271

Zhang Y, Zhang G, Chen H et al. (2016) Topic analysis and forecasting for science, technology and innovation: methodology with a case study focusing on big data research. Technol Forecast Soc Change 105(2016):179–191

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by Special Project on Innovation and Generation of Medical Support Capacity (NO. 20WQ008) and Chongqing Special Project on Technological Foresight and Institution Innovation (NO. cstc2019jsyj-zzysbAX0037). We are also deeply grateful to prof. Ying Li and prof. Xia Zhang for their constructive suggestions to improve the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Army Medical University, Chongqing, China

Yuxue Yang, Xuejiao Tan, Yafei Shi & Jun Deng

General Hospital of Xinjiang Military Command, Urumqi, China

Yuxue Yang & Jun Deng

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jun Deng .

Ethics declarations

Competing interests.

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

Informed consent

Additional information.

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions.

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ .

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Yang, Y., Tan, X., Shi, Y. et al. What are the core concerns of policy analysis? A multidisciplinary investigation based on in-depth bibliometric analysis. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 10 , 190 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01703-0

Download citation

Received : 01 September 2022

Accepted : 18 April 2023

Published : 01 May 2023

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01703-0

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies

A guide to policy analysis as a research method

Affiliations.

• 1 Department of Public Health, School of Psychology and Public Health, Latrobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia.
• 2 Department of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
• 3 Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University, 24 Wakefield Street, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia.
• 4 Department of Nutrition Dietetics and Food, Monash University, Level 1, 264 Ferntree Gully Road, Notting Hill, Victoria, Australia.
• PMID: 30101276
• DOI: 10.1093/heapro/day052

Policy analysis provides a way for understanding how and why governments enact certain policies, and their effects. Public health policy research is limited and lacks theoretical underpinnings. This article aims to describe and critique different approaches to policy analysis thus providing direction for undertaking policy analysis in the field of health promotion. Through the use of an illustrative example in nutrition it aims to illustrate the different approaches. Three broad orientations to policy analysis are outlined: (i) Traditional approaches aim to identify the 'best' solution, through undertaking objective analyses of possible solutions. (ii) Mainstream approaches focus on the interaction of policy actors in policymaking. (iii) Interpretive approaches examine the framing and representation of problems and how policies reflect the social construction of 'problems'. Policy analysis may assist understanding of how and why policies to improve nutrition are enacted (or rejected) and may inform practitioners in their advocacy. As such, policy analysis provides researchers with a powerful tool to understand the use of research evidence in policymaking and generate a heightened understanding of the values, interests and political contexts underpinning policy decisions. Such methods may enable more effective advocacy for policies that can lead to improvements in health.

Keywords: interpretive policy analysis; mainstream policy analysis; nutrition; public health; sugar sweetened beverage tax.

© The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: [email protected].

• Health Policy*
• Health Promotion
• Policy Making*
• Public Health / legislation & jurisprudence
• Public Health Administration
• Public Policy
• Research Design

• Open access
• Published: 10 December 2014

An intersectionality-based policy analysis framework: critical reflections on a methodology for advancing equity

• Olena Hankivsky 1 ,
• Daniel Grace 2 , 3 ,
• Gemma Hunting 4 ,
• Melissa Giesbrecht 5 ,
• Alycia Fridkin 6 ,
• Sarah Rudrum 7 ,
• Olivier Ferlatte 8 &
• Natalie Clark 9 , 10  

International Journal for Equity in Health volume  13 , Article number:  119 ( 2014 ) Cite this article

73k Accesses

204 Citations

35 Altmetric

Metrics details

Introduction

In the field of health, numerous frameworks have emerged that advance understandings of the differential impacts of health policies to produce inclusive and socially just health outcomes. In this paper, we present the development of an important contribution to these efforts – an Intersectionality-Based Policy Analysis (IBPA) Framework.

Developed over the course of two years in consultation with key stakeholders and drawing on best and promising practices of other equity-informed approaches, this participatory and iterative IBPA Framework provides guidance and direction for researchers, civil society, public health professionals and policy actors seeking to address the challenges of health inequities across diverse populations. Importantly, we present the application of the IBPA Framework in seven priority health-related policy case studies.

The analysis of each case study is focused on explaining how IBPA: 1) provides an innovative structure for critical policy analysis; 2) captures the different dimensions of policy contexts including history, politics, everyday lived experiences, diverse knowledges and intersecting social locations; and 3) generates transformative insights, knowledge, policy solutions and actions that cannot be gleaned from other equity-focused policy frameworks.

The aim of this paper is to inspire a range of policy actors to recognize the potential of IBPA to foreground the complex contexts of health and social problems, and ultimately to transform how policy analysis is undertaken.

In the field of health, numerous frameworks (e.g., sex and gender based analysis, health equity impact assessments) have emerged over the last fifteen years, all attempting to advance better understandings of the differential impacts of health policies and to produce inclusive and socially just health outcomes [ 1 ]-[ 6 ]. Despite progress made to date, there is still much work to be done to better understand how policy affects diverse populations, including precisely identifying who is benefiting and who is excluded from health policy goals, priorities and related resource allocation. As part of the ongoing efforts to move forward work in this field, there is a growing interest in the theory of intersectionality and its potential to improve current equity-driven health policy analyses [ 7 ]-[ 10 ]. To date, however, this potential has not been realized, largely due to the fact that few methods have been developed to operationalize intersectionality in the context of health policy.

In this paper, we describe an innovation for policy analysis that fills this gap: the Intersectionality-Based Policy Analysis (IBPA) Framework. Developed and refined through an iterative, participatory process inclusive of multiple sectors, IBPA is intended to capture and respond to the multi-level interacting social locations, forces, factors and power structures that shape and influence human life and health. Its aim as a policy tool is to better illuminate how policy constructs individuals’ and groups’ relative power and privileges vis-à-vis their socio-economic-political status, health and well-being. Significantly, we also present a synthesis of seven health-related policy case studies based on this Framework. The purpose of this synthesis is not to provide a detailed overview of each case study, which is available elsewhere [ 11 ] but rather to clearly and succinctly distill the value and benefit of conducting IBPA in relation to these diverse areas of policy. As such, the analysis of each case study is focused on explaining how IBPA: 1) provides an innovative structure for critical policy analysis; 2) captures the different dimensions of policy contexts including history, politics, everyday lived experiences, diverse knowledges and intersecting social locations; and 3) generates transformative insights, knowledge, policy solutions and actions that cannot be gleaned from other equity-focused policy frameworks. The aim of this paper is to inspire policy practitioners and actors to recognize the potential of IBPA to foreground the complex contexts of health and social problems, and ultimately to transform how policy analysis is undertaken.

• Intersectionality

Rooted in a long and deep history of Black feminist writing, Indigenous feminism, third world feminism, and queer and postcolonial theory [ 12 ]-[ 16 ], intersectionality has emerged as a widely respected, albeit variously defined research and policy paradigm [ 17 ]. Nevertheless, there are a number of central tenets that capture the unique nature of this paradigm. These are:

human lives cannot be reduced to single characteristics;

human experiences cannot be accurately understood by prioritizing any one single factor or constellation of factors;

social categories/locations, such as ‘race’/ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality and ability, are socially constructed, and dynamic

social locations are inseparable and shaped by interacting and mutually constituting social processes and structures, which, in turn, are shaped by power and influenced by both time and place; and

the promotion of social justice and equity are paramount [ 8 ],[ 11 ].

Intersectionality encourages critical reflection that allows researchers and decision makers to move beyond the singular categories that are typically favoured in equity-driven analyses (e.g., sex and gender in sex and gender based analysis) and also beyond the kind of enumerated list of determinants of health often found in health impact assessments to consider the complex relationships and interactions between social locations such as Indigeneity, sexuality, gender expression, immigration status, age, ability and religion a . This enables an examination of the simultaneous impact of and resistance to systems and structures of oppression and domination, such as racism, classism, sexism, ableism and heterosexism [ 8 ]. Intersectionality is concerned with bringing about a conceptual shift in how researchers, civil society, public health professionals and policy actors understand social categories, their relationships and interactions. It requires a consideration of the complex relationship between mutually constituting factors of social location and structural disadvantage so as to more accurately map and conceptualize determinants of equity and inequity in and beyond health [ 18 ].

An ongoing challenge in advancing this body of work is the further development of explicit and user-friendly methods that can more effectively translate intersectionality theory into practical approaches to be understood and used by decision makers and policy researchers. Taking on an intersectionality study/analysis can be incredibly intimidating. Bowleg [ 19 ] states, although intersectionality theory provides a conceptually solid framework with which to examine the social locations of individuals and groups within the broader interlocking structures of power relations [ 20 ],[ 21 ], the methodological choices available to do so and/or guidance offered on how to do so are severely limited [ 22 ]-[ 26 ]. In response to this gap, a handful of tools have recently been developed for applying intersectionality to public policy [ 8 ],[ 25 ],[ 27 ]-[ 29 ] which have started to illuminate the potential of intersectionality. None to date, however, have specifically been developed for health and health-related policies and programs, making the IBPA detailed below, a significant contribution to the literature.

The Intersectionality-Based Policy Analysis (IBPA) Framework and corresponding case studies were developed in an iterative, participatory process. Beyond the input of the authors, the final Framework reflects the feedback received from emerging and established scholars in the field within academic, governmental and community settings. In particular, it responds to feedback from policy actors across provincial and federal departments who increasingly report having ‘lens fatigue’ navigating an increasingly numerous terrain of policy lenses focused on various factors and considerations such as gender, geographic location, illness status, age, and ability.

Based on a series of meetings and peer feedback, as well as on critical reflection into current gaps and trends in equity-promoting public policy analysis, a draft IBPA Framework was collaboratively developed to guide the development of the case studies. This draft was further revised near the completion of the case studies, as the intention of the group was to engage in an ongoing process of refinement to ensure that the IBPA is a usable and practical guide for policy analysis.

The IBPA Framework has two core components: a set of guiding principles (see Figure  1 ) and a list of 12 overarching questions to help shape the analysis (see Figure  2 ). The guiding principles are intended to ground the 12 key questions, including their supporting sub-questions, in order to ensure that each is asked and answered in a way that is consistent with an intersectionality-informed analysis. b Put succinctly, the principles are designed to be used in concert with the questions.

Guiding principles of Intersectionality-Based Policy Analysis.

Descriptive & transformative overarching questions of IBPA.

The questions are divided into two categories: descriptive and transformative . Their combined effect is intended to expand and transform the ways in which policy problems and processes are understood and critically analyzed in order to ensure fine-tuned and equitable policy recommendations and responses. The first set of descriptive questions is intended to generate critical background information about policy problems in their full context, with specific attention to the processes and mechanisms by which policy problems are identified, constructed and addressed. Their purpose is to reveal assumptions that underpin existing government priorities, the populations targeted for policy interventions, and what inequities and privileges are created by current policy responses. The second set of transformative questions is intended to assist with the identification of alternative policy responses and solutions specifically aimed at social and structural change that reduce inequities and promote social justice. The questions in this section prompt users to consider actions that will ensure meaningful uptake of equity-focused policy solutions as well as the measurement of the impacts and outcomes of proposed policy responses.

Simplicity and flexibility are key features of the Framework. While some users may ultimately ask all 12 questions to help guide their analysis, others may focus on certain questions, tailoring them to specific policy contexts. Some questions may be more or less relevant depending on the policy under examination, its history, and its stage of development and implementation. At the same time, it is critical that the questions be grounded in key intersectionality principles to ensure IBPA’s transformative effects on how policy problems and issues are understood and responded to.

Each of the case studies, briefly described in the following section, utilizes IBPA to analyze key health and health related policy areas. Collectively they demonstrate the added value of engaging with intersectionality for analyzing social and health inequities. At the same time, each author applies the IBPA in very different ways, demonstrating the flexibility of this Framework. However, they each also make explicit - concretely and persuasively – why IBPA allowed them to discover new insights and knowledge about particular policy problems.

Results and discussion

To date, the authors of the IBPA Framework have applied this mode of critical policy analysis to seven different health policy fields. Elsewhere [ 11 ] these policy examples are presented in full detail. In this paper, however, we highlight what we consider the most salient components of the IBPA and use these to frame the discussion of each unique case study. Our goal is to clearly and succinctly demonstrate – across a diversity of health and health-related issues - the advancements that can be realized by using intersectionality in the analysis of policy.

The first component that each policy example discusses is the structural innovation of the IBPA Framework. This component is characterized by three defining elements of an IBPA-informed analysis: the interrogation, using diverse sources of information and knowledges, of the implicit assumptions underpinning policies; the attention to historic developments and contemporary framings of social issues and policy problems; and the self-reflexive method for capturing complex multi-dimensional power dynamics that shape everyday lived experiences.

The second component that the case studies highlight is the transformative effects of IBPA . This part of the discussion seeks to demonstrate how an IBPA generates new perspectives and insights about policy issues and affected populations. As all the authors show, new knowledge and evidence has significant potential to disrupt and challenge the status quo, including the most progressive approaches to policy development, implementation and evaluation. Finally, the case examples also illuminate why an IBPA provides directions for renewed advocacy efforts aimed at social change and social justice.

The first two case studies focus on policy issues typically understood as highly gendered phenomena. Both authors, however, draw on IBPA to illustrate the importance of multiple social locations and structures of power, including but not limited to gender, that influence the availability and delivery of health services. To begin, Rudrum examines current maternity care policy, revealing inequities in access to high-quality appropriate care for differently situated women across geography, ethnicity, Aboriginal identity, and socioeconomic status. In the process, this author challenges the idea that there are fixed norms or standards in the care that women require in pregnancy and childbirth. Next, Giesbrecht focuses on palliative care policy, revealing the current inequities in access to services and supports, and demonstrating the extent to which ‘choices’ at the end of life by those who need and provide care are inextricably linked to interactions between socioeconomic status, service provision, cultural discourses, and emotional, spiritual and relational factors infused with physical and social aspects of place.

Three of the case studies specifically focus on issues relevant to Aboriginal health. Hunting’s examination of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) shows why Aboriginal populations continue to experience health inequities in relation to current policies. She argues that a sole focus on women as a category, a narrow conception of risk, and a lack of attention to intersecting processes of oppression within FASD policy discourse undermine the development of IBPA-informed policy processes and reforms that can more effectively address the experiences, needs and perspectives of diverse populations affected by substance use. Second, in reviewing policy processes of the Kelowna Accord – an Aboriginal health policy initiative in Canada that was developed but never implemented – Fridkin demonstrates how IBPA can be applied to issues in Aboriginal health policy to promote the inclusion of Aboriginal peoples and knowledges in policymaking processes, which may contribute to agendas of decolonization. Fridkin illustrates how IBPA can be used to analyze not just policies themselves, but policy processes, thus highlighting the potential of IBPA to expand what is typically constituted as policy analysis. Third, using an IBPA lens, Clark shows that even policies that forefront Aboriginal needs fall short because they often fail to consider the multiple and intersecting layers of Indigenous identity, such as age, rurality, gender-expression and experiences of trauma, including interactions with multiple policy systems. Clark’s contribution is also important in that she draws significant parallels between intersectionality and Indigenous ways of knowing, while raising critical questions about the relationship between IBPA and Indigenous epistemology.

The final two case studies in the collection tackle various issues relating to HIV. First, Grace draws on IBPA to advance understandings of complex issues facing sexual minority populations by considering both current understandings and testing technologies surrounding HIV and the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure. He makes a persuasive argument for using IBPA to advance an equity-focused understanding of the ‘problem’ of HIV transmission that places front and centre the structural drivers that produce differential vulnerabilities among affected populations. Lastly, Ferlatte uses an intersectionality lens to evaluate HIV prevention funding for gay men. The examination includes consideration of discourses around HIV, funding application processes and funding decision outcomes. His analysis highlights the structural barriers involved in securing support for HIV prevention. Importantly, Ferlatte discusses possible alliances with other groups to work for policy change rooted in understandings of the power dynamics that currently shape the HIV funding system.

Case 1: Maternity care

In October 2012, a labouring woman in the Ottawa-Carleton Correctional Institute in Ontario Canada was denied care and moved to segregation, where she gave birth to a breech baby unattended, after hours of labour. She had been checked by prison nurses who believed she was in ‘false labour.’ A minister of parliament called on to respond to the case described it as similar to an unplanned home birth, clearly overlooking the power disparities that contributed to the failure to provide care (CBC). Canadian policy makers and care providers agree that pregnant women should have choice, autonomy, and control over their health care, but, as this example demonstrates, experiences of care are in fact characterized by inequities related to social position and geographic location. While this scenario may seem exceptional, both national and provincial policy documents acknowledge a crisis in maternity health care [ 30 ]. This case study reviews the 2004 report, “Supporting Local Collaborative Models for Sustainable Maternity Care in British Columbia” by BC’s Maternity Care Enhancement Project [ 31 ] and two documents published as a result of this report, “Aboriginal Maternal Health in Canada: A Toolbox” (BC Aboriginal Maternal Health Project) [ 32 ], and the “Obstetric Guideline 19: Maternity Care Pathway” (BC Perinatal Health Program) [ 33 ].

Structural innovation

Explicit attention to history and context is inherent in the IBPA principles on Time and Space and Diverse Knowledges . Applying these principles to the report yielded two major critiques: first, that human resource shortages are addressed in a manner that reinforces physician privilege while failing to contest gendered and racialized power imbalances within the health care professions; and second, that the approach to difference among maternity care clients does not adequately address differences among women or health inequities.

The first critique was generated through an examination of the history of midwifery and how the marginalization of midwives and their care negatively affects maternity care clients. Midwives have had to advocate for their profession to be formally recognized and publicly remunerated, and their presence in BC and elsewhere, has not always been welcomed by obstetricians or by other doctors providing maternity care, even though they attend births at home as well as in hospital, and see their clients more frequently and for longer visits than is typical for physicians. Addressing one group of providers’ concerns (e.g., physicians) shapes access to quality care, by promoting growth in provider group while restricting growth in another in a way that does not coincide with the needs of birthing women. Since choice in provider type and birth location is considered an important element of quality care, and since midwifery care is so unevenly available outside of urban areas, failing to address midwifery’s low numbers is also a failure to address a gap in quality service provision.

Second, the IBPA Framework helps orient policy to the concerns of people in their everyday lived experiences. IBPA encourages a focus on how groups are represented and conceptualized, through questions such as What differences, variations and similarities are considered to exist between and among relevant groups? An IBPA revealed that in the case of BC’s maternity care recommendations, the talk about diversity sounded hollow specifically because inequities that currently exist in maternity care provision and maternal health outcomes were not adequately considered. For example, challenges for rural women seeking care were alluded to but not adequately addressed. In comparison, an IBPA brings to the fore the lack of access to comprehensive and appropriate maternity care in rural and small communities. It also highlights the intersections with ethnicity: Aboriginal communities, including reserves, are often rural, and smaller communities have less access to health care decision-making bodies [ 34 ]. Refugee women also often have social and health concerns that can make pregnancy a uniquely vulnerable time [ 35 ]. Age also is an important intersection as young single women are often subject to social stigma, and are susceptible to risk labeling and accompanying surveillance and interventions.

Within the report and guidelines, while it is noted that health problems in pregnancy are related to addiction, experience of intimate partner violence, youth and poverty, these different factors are mostly presented as if affected women are part of a cohesive group. At the same time, the concerns of these women are also individualized as ‘lifestyle’ issues. This process of creating risk groups or individualizing social problems is relevant to another sub-question of IBPA question 4, How do the current representations shape understandings of different groups of people? Despite the good intentions of including guidelines related to various social factors, the potential benefit of these recommendations to groups experiencing health inequities is diminished by this tendency towards creating risk groups and individualizing health concerns whose dimensions are largely social. IBPA attends to the patterns and differences among affected women by locating them in context of systems of power, and this focus on differentials would travel throughout the policy process on maternity care.

Transformative potential

Despite identifying ‘women-centred care’ as an important model for maternity care, the report does not elaborate on recommendations related to health inequities or on the range of needs of women in British Columbia. A women-centred approach is valuable in identifying that women should have a degree of choice, autonomy and control regarding their care and birthing practices. However, from an IBPA perspective, the model presented did not address how choice and autonomy are constrained by power systems of privilege and oppression.

Reviewing policy using the IBPA tool, with its ability to better address issues of power and inequity, a number of benefits for maternity care policy and delivery in BC can be realized. At the level of tools for care providers, such providers working with the broader population would benefit from information about issues including lack of local care, teen pregnancy, and addiction, for example, presented in a way that is not stigmatizing would benefit providers working with the broader population.

While policy in this area tends to treat women as a generic group, in practice, women are a diverse group who vary in their approaches to pregnancy, their health care needs, and their life circumstances; to ensure equitable access to quality care, maternity care policy needs to attend to the differences among women. This would include moving away from stigmatized understandings of ‘groups requiring additional care’ or vulnerable women, by starting from an understanding that there is not one fixed norm for the care women may require in pregnancy.

Case 2: Palliative care

Reflecting a demographic trend witnessed in many nations, Canada is experiencing rapid population aging. This increase raises many concerns for health care planners and administrators, particularly in regard to the impending increased need for palliative care. Within Canada, this is offered across a range of sites, including nursing homes, acute care hospitals, respite facilities, and hospices by a variety of providers who can include family doctors, nurses, specialists, community volunteers, spiritual leaders, and family members [ 36 ]. However, reflecting neoliberal and social trends experienced in much of the global north, the ‘place’ where palliative care occurs in Canada is increasingly moving away from hospital settings and into the community, especially the home [ 37 ],[ 38 ].

Currently, over 259,000 Canadians die each year; however, only 15 percent access palliative care services prior to death [ 39 ]. This statistic raises many concerns regarding the awareness, accessibility, and meaningfulness of palliative services for dying Canadians and their families [ 39 ]. Given the rapidly aging population and that a large percentage of dying Canadians, including British Columbians, and their caregivers are not accessing adequate palliative care, it is clear that a timely and significant need exists to enhance existing palliative care services and supports.

Structural innovations

The diversity of participant experiences explored in this analysis was exceptionally vast as everyone , at some point in some way, will experience death and dying. Considering this, the potential diversity that exists among this population group may seem daunting for researchers who wish to employ intersectionality-based analyses. However, the structured guidance offered by the IBPA Framework was effective by uniquely guiding the researcher via particular questions and prompts, while simultaneously permitting flexibility and embracing complexity. For example, the descriptive questions prompt the reader to identify the context and what the policy ‘problem’ is. The ‘problem’ explored in this case study involved examining current BC palliative care policy that is directed towards supporting more British Columbians to die in the home, rather than in formal institutions, such as hospitals. However, it was the selected descriptive question that asks How are groups differentially affected by this representation of the ‘problem’? that provided the spring board for this case study analysis.

Much caregiving research tends to focus on the gendered nature associated with this role, however, because the Framework emphasizes that analyses must be anchored in the everyday lives of those the who the policy and resulting programs aim to serve, it embraced the diversity that actually exists among those in need of palliative care services. For example, as caregiving is generally seen as a ‘woman’s’ issue, the IBPA Framework revealed that gender is not necessarily the most important variable when considering needs and access to palliative care supports. More specifically, it may be one’s geographic location of residence, housing status, or access to social networks that together create a greater impact in shaping experiences of palliative caregiving, than simply being a woman. Additionally, findings revealed that recipients of palliative care are not a homogenous population group either, but rather carry a range of needs in regard to the types of palliative care supports they require. Furthermore, commonalities across groups also become visible due to the multi-dimensional lens of the Framework. For instance, the Haida people’s spiritual preference to not have a death occur in the home, those with insecure housing status, or those who are dying and do not have access to a family caregiver would all benefit from directing palliative care efforts towards enhancing meaningful access to palliative care supports outside of the home, for example by creating more hospice houses. Overall, the IBPA Framework provided a map for employing an intersectional approach to palliative care policy by providing valuable suggestions regarding where to begin (i.e., descriptive questions) and ultimately, where to go (i.e., transformative questions) during the analytic process.

Transformative effects

In this case study, the IBPA Framework enhanced the visibility of those who are generally not acknowledged within the palliative care policy realm. Its application revealed that some groups face higher barriers in accessing supports and experience greater stresses and burdens in regard to having to provide informal palliative care in the home than others. For example, those who are located in rural and remote areas in BC, who are at great distances from services, who are socially isolated or stigmatized, and who may be complexly located under any of the existing arms of oppression (e.g., cultural minorities and/or First Nations, among other groups) face greater barriers to accessing palliative supports, and for the care recipient, achieving a death with dignity. On the other hand, this analysis also exposed characteristics of those who are situated in relatively privileged social and physical positions, for whom such policies are working - namely, those who have a relatively predictable prognosis and middle to high class status, who are located near a larger urban/town area, are home owners, and socially connected, married, and/or have an educated (preferably with a medical background) woman friend or family member who is healthy, willing, capable and available to take time to provide care in the home. Thus, using the Framework disrupted the common policy discourse that tends to assume that those in need of palliative care are a homogenous group of middle class, Anglo-European (white western), British Columbians who have safe and secure housing and live in nuclear family structures.

Generally, BC’s ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to palliative care is tailored to a ‘standard person’, who arguably does not exist. Although current palliative care policy is directed towards assisting palliative care to take place in the home, the site of the home for palliative care may, or may not be, a viable and desirable option. The Framework uncovered the complexity of this issue and revealed that the preference for the home as a site for palliative care was intertwined with access to outside formal supports, spiritual beliefs, housing security and associated costs. More specifically, the findings point to the home as a highly contested site for palliative care, one characterized by intersecting political, cultural, economic, social, geographic and historical dimensions. By unpacking the policy directive towards enhancing supports for palliative care in the home, it also becomes apparent that the house, home and family have become conflated in the policy realm and are based on an ideologically laden perspective where families are seen as white, middleclass, heterosexual and nuclear.

Two principles of the IBPA Framework are Social Justice and Equity , and in order to address these principles, avenues for advocacy must be acknowledged. Explicitly from this case study, findings reveal valuable information that can be used to inform policy decision makers on directions and ways to provide more meaningful, equitable, and inclusive palliative care supports and services. More implicitly however, this case study casts a spotlight on a branch of health care that too often is undervalued and overlooked. This may simply be due to our society’s contemporary western view of death and dying, which has been characterized by some as being in ‘death denial’ [ 40 ]-[ 42 ]. Western health care delivery is characterized as being both highly curative and bio-medical in nature and, thereby, more interested in healing the bio-physical body than in addressing the psycho-social, cultural, and spiritual needs of the dying and their family members [ 42 ]-[ 44 ]. Advocacy is needed to advance palliative care policy in BC. Here, the valuable work of community hospice organizations, together with citizen advocacy, has the potential to assist with minimizing the cultural and social taboos around death and dying prevalent in both our society’s psyche and the Canadian health care system [ 42 ].

Case 3: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

Critical analysis of policy addressing Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) in Canada is particularly pressing given increasing health and social inequities, increased evidence of substance use among certain populations and increased public attention to FASD as a “a national public health, education, economic, and social concern” [ 45 ]. Recent critical analyses have highlighted the failure of FASD policy in Canada to account for the historical, structural and social contexts that situate substance use. Consequently, substance ‘users’ have been framed as the ‘problem’ requiring government intervention [ 46 ],[ 47 ]. Converging with such constructions is the prevailing assumption, permeating the media, FASD prevention campaigns and public discourse, that FASD is predominantly an ‘Aboriginal problem’ [ 48 ]-[ 50 ]. Importantly, an IBPA Framework provides an innovative structure to examine how such discourse can reinforce relations of equity for people who use substances, while also providing transformative opportunities to rectify such tendencies.

This case study reveals how FASD-related policy (and research) to date have consistently perpetuated certain assumptions of who is affected and how (e.g., that FASD is a problem of Aboriginal mothers). The analytical guidance provided through the overarching questions of the IBPA Framework problematized such assumptions of what the problem is and who is affected. For example, asking how representations of the ‘problem’ of FASD have come about reveals the research and policy discourse surrounding FASD as often reflecting gaps, biases, and discriminatory assumptions. Pursuing this question can reveal, for instance, that: a) FASD-related research has historically focused on particular Aboriginal reserve communities where substance use rates were known to be elevated, to the exclusion of research that could reflect the prevalence of FASD within and across Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations; and b) the diagnostic indicators of FASD, and the identification of mothers who use substances have been argued to be racialized. Acknowledging this entrenchment of discriminatory practices can allow for policy actors to resist and reframe what the ‘problem’ is.

The IBPA Framework also allows one to ground their analysis with the question that asks : What knowledge, values and assumptions do you bring to the area of policy analysis ? This acknowledges that all stages of policy processes and policy analyses occur are situated within intersecting social locations and contexts experienced by the analyst. Being reflexive as to ones assumptions about particular policy problems and what types of evidence and knowledge one considers valid allows for possible gaps and limitations in policy response to be revealed. This is particularly relevant to FASD-related policy, which has often reinforced dominant constructions of FASD as an issue of ‘Aboriginality’ while inadequately addressing the contexts of substance use. The critical reflection encouraged by IBPA in this case study is a necessary starting place in reforming discriminatory assumptions and practices, while better understanding and addressing the conditions situating FASD.

Importantly, IBPA guidance allows for the intersectional contexts of both maternal substance use and diagnosis of FASD to surface. The guiding principles that ground the questions are central to this. For instance, the principle of Intersectional Categories recognizes that looking at policy populations via singular categories is inadequate. In the recent 10-year Plan for FASD in BC [ 51 ], there is an exclusive focus on ‘women’ and ‘cultural and ethnic groups’ as populations of relevance in addressing FASD. IBPA highlights the need to move beyond such a priori foci (for which approaches such as GBA and cultural sensitivity have been criticized) towards relational understandings of such categories. Reinforcing the discourse of at-risk women or cultures perpetuates the assumption that substance use and FASD are experienced in homogenous ways within these groups. This ignores the evidence that both women and certain ‘cultural groups’ are differentially affected by substance use and FASD due to their shifting and intersecting social locations. For instance, the majority of women who have a child diagnosed with FASD also experience poverty; a fact that is often ignored in dominant FASD discourse. An IBPA unpacks ‘one-size fits all’ assumptions of policy problems and their impact on particular populations, highlighting that such assumptions risk reinforcing essentializing and discriminatory responses to particular people. This also promotes the urgent need to fill the gap in current knowledge/evidence about how substance use and FASD occurs and affects people across intersecting social locations.

Beyond bringing attention to the intersecting social locations that situate substance use and FASD, IBPA also highlights the processes of power that shape such experiences. For instance, FASD-related policy has often sought to address the social determinants or individual ‘risk factors’ situating maternal substance use, such as housing, nutrition and stress. Yet, without contextualizing such determinants as produced within proximal and systemic power dynamics (e.g., the racialization of poverty, gendered violence, etc.), the ‘problem’ becomes located within particular women, reinforcing reductive understandings and responses to ‘problem’ populations. For instance, highlighting FASD as predominantly being an issue of Aboriginal women, while failing to address the intersecting processes of power that can situate substance use (e.g., socioeconomic discrimination, neocolonialism, racialization, criminalization, etc.) serve to construct and stigmatize Aboriginal people as a problem population, reinforcing the conditions creating inequity.

The transformative thrust of IBPA can allow for policy analysis to move beyond naming inadequacies in policy towards reforming them to better reflect the differential experiences of populations and in turn, improve relations of inequity. While the descriptive questions employed in this case study set the stage for improving understandings and responses to maternal substance use and FASD, the transformative questions seek to answer the ‘how’ question. For instance, the first Transformative Question asks: What inequities actually exist in relation to the problem? With respect to FASD-related research and policy, this question must be asked and better addressed in order to broaden conceptions of the problem, overturn discriminatory constructions, and better address the relations of inequity that often situate understandings of and responses to substance use and FASD. Some key ‘action steps’ that can be taken in this regard include:

promoting reflexivity and critical dialogue surrounding what is ‘known’, why, and whose interests are served with respect to current FASD research, policy and practice. This involves actively resisting moralizing and discriminatory conceptions of ‘problem holders’ which reinforce relations of inequity;

meaningfully integrating diverse knowledges and experiences of those affected by maternal substance use across intersecting social locations within policy processes to better reflect the intersectionality of FASD.

better accounting for the range of intersecting processes that can affect maternal substance use and FASD – research and analysis within and across shifting social locations – while placing the importance of power “front and centre” throughout such work [ 52 ].

Case 4: Policy processes surrounding the Kelowna Accord

Despite the implementation of many health policies aiming to improve the health of Aboriginal people, inequities affecting Aboriginal people in Canada continue to increase, as illustrated by Indigenous peoples’ longstanding disproportionate burden of: infectious and chronic disease; mental health problems and suicide; substance use, trauma and violence; and inequitable access to housing, education, employment, food security and health care [ 53 ]. These health inequities are deeply tied to the history of colonialism in Canada and addressing such health inequities at their root thus calls for new ways of analyzing Aboriginal health policy issues that attend to underlying structural inequities [ 54 ]. With its attention to structural relations of power, intersectionality provides a useful theoretical lens for analyzing Aboriginal health policy issues with a view to addressing inequities.

The flexibility of IBPA allows the analyst to tailor the analysis to fit the policy problem being examined. For example, in this policy case study, the analysis relied primarily on the guiding principles and the most relevant IBPA questions; the flexibility of the Framework meant that not every question had to be answered. This was especially important for tailoring the Framework to support an analysis of policy processes, instead of the content of a particular policy. As an example of this tailoring, descriptive question 4, How are groups differentially affected by this representation of the problem? was reframed to read How are groups differentially affected by their representation in the policy process? Tailoring the Framework to suit analysis of policy processes, as opposed to content, illustrates how IBPA can serve as a framework for analyses that expand the boundaries of what is typically analyzed in policy analysis. Broadening the spectrum of what can be analyzed enables an analysis of various aspects of policy that are often taken for granted, such as the policymaking process. Consequently, this expanded approach to policy analysis has the potential for arriving at recommendations that are relevant beyond the scope of a single policy issue; rather the insights gained from IBPA may inform various aspects of policy and policymaking.

IBPA also provides structured guidance for applying critical perspectives to policy analysis. For example, the question, What knowledge, values and experiences do you bring to this area of policy analysis? prompts analysts to be transparent about their own held assumptions and political motivations, which are important given the overt political orientation of much critical policy analysis [ 55 ]. By providing a structure for articulating the political orientation of policy analysis, which is essential for ensuring rigor and scientific integrity [ 56 ], the structure of IBPA helps to ensure the rigor of critical policy analysis as well transparency in how policy solutions are reached. IBPA thus makes a significant contribution to the critical policy literature, which contains many applications of critical policy analysis, yet few that provide a detailed articulation of how critical policy analysis is done and how rigor in this form of analysis is achieved.

Unlike conventional “context-stripping” approaches to policy analysis where policy problems are typically analyzed in isolation of broader social and political contexts [ 57 ], the IBPA Framework provides a deepened contextual analysis, which can be useful for identifying underlying assumptions in the way policy problems are defined, including the way policy problems historically, politically and socially construct groups of people. For example, in this case study IBPA is used to unpack assumptions within the Kelowna Accord’s focus on the “gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians” [ 58 ]. The IBPA principle of Intersecting Categories challenges the assumption that Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians are two neatly defined and mutually exclusive groups positioned at opposite ends of the health and social spectrum. The IBPA-informed questions prompt the analyst to think about how the policy problem might be reframed in a way that challenges such assumptions and considers social and historical contexts. IBPA, for example, might lead to a reframing of the policy problem in the Kelowna Accord as “addressing structural barriers to Indigenous peoples’ health”, which draws attention to the root causes of health inequities rather than differences between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. Additionally, the IBPA tailored question, How are diverse groups differentially affected by their representation in the policy process? and the IBPA question, How have representations of the problem come about? prompt the analyst to consider how a history of intersecting oppressive systems such as colonialism, sexism and racism, operate through policies to produce layers of inequity across a spectrum of people with diverse identities.

Another example of how IBPA provides a deepened contextual analysis is by providing questions to help unpack the assumptions behind key concepts used in policymaking. In this policy case study, IBPA is used to unpack assumptions within the notion of collaboration. An IBPA approach draws attention to the social and historical context of Aboriginal health policymaking in Canada and enables a critical examination of how collaboration has occurred in policymaking. An IBPA-informed question might be, How has collaboration been historically constructed within policy processes and what assumptions underlie these constructions? IBPA reveals that although collaboration between governments and Indigenous leaders was a key component of the agreements reached in the Kelowna Accord, the ultimate federal government decision to not fund the proposed policies is reflective of inherent power inequities within such “collaborative” policymaking processes. In challenging key policy concepts such as collaboration within policy processes, IBPA can generate understandings that provide insight into improving policy processes, such as insights into what constitutes effective collaborative policymaking.

The IBPA transformative questions help to structure an analysis that arrives at action-oriented policy recommendations to address structural inequities. While other forms of critical policy analysis often result in a detailed description of the complexity of power inequities, IBPA facilitates the analyst in arriving at actionable policy recommendations that aid in transforming social structures. For example, this policy case study drew on the IBPA principle of Diverse Knowledges in order to focus on how diverse Indigenous peoples and knowledges were included in the Kelowna Accord policymaking processes, and how policymaking processes could be transformed to foster meaningful inclusion in the future. Including Indigenous people and knowledges in policymaking is an important step towards transforming and decolonizing policymaking processes [ 59 ].

Action-oriented policy responses are an essential part of decolonizing work, thus the transformative nature of IBPA makes it a useful decolonizing approach or methodology for policy analysis. However, the IBPA description questions also contribute towards the Framework’s decolonizing potential. For example, the descriptive questions may help to identify colonial assumptions within the definition of the policy problem and to reframe the policy problem in ways that not only resist such assumptions but also are further grounded in Indigenous perspectives. Including Indigenous peoples and perspectives in the definition of policy problems is an essential step towards self-determination and decolonization [ 60 ], and is also necessary for developing policies that address health inequities at their core.

Case 5: Building transformative anti-colonial policy processes: lessons from an Indigenous Intersectionality-Based Policy Analysis

Provincial, national and international trends demonstrate increasing criminalization and medicalization of Indigenous girls. Indigenous youth are overrepresented in the child protection system and within the justice system of Canada [ 61 ]. In this case study, an IBPA was applied to examine historical and current construction of Indigenous girls and structural violence done through policy, and specifically the British Columbia Child and Youth Mental Health Plan [ 62 ]. The plan was the first of its kind in Canada, specifically focused on addressing underserved populations, in particular Indigenous children and youth.

The case study is written from the author’s reflexive position as a woman of Metis ancestry and part of the Secwepemc community, as a social worker, trauma therapist and activist who has directly witnessed the ineffectiveness of policies such as the British Columbia Child and Youth Mental health Plan (CYMH) in addressing the intersecting vulnerabilities of Indigenous girls. The author argues that, “I have also seen how the policy itself has in fact constructed this vulnerability, which I maintain is a form of state structural violence. Such violence occurs in the failure to act and/or in interventions of the state, via policies and systems, that lead to a culturally unsafe environment for Indigenous girls and to further violence” [ 63 ]. The case study reveals how policies not only fail to protect Aboriginal girls from victimization, but actually contribute to this victimization in many cases. It underscores that in order to understand the violence today experienced by Aboriginal girls and women, it is necessary to situate this violence within the violence of colonization, and particularly within the intersection of policies such as the Indian Act and other federal and provincial policies such as child welfare and youth justice policies.

The most useful aspect of the IBPA Framework for examining the Child and Youth Mental Health Plan is the set of descriptive questions about representations of the ‘policy problem’, in this case, violence against Indigenous girls. These questions investigate how a problem is framed, by whom and why (questions 2 and 3); what groups are most affected (question 4); and current policy responses that maintain inequities (question 5). These sets of questions provide an important starting place for policy development because they advance new understandings of violence against Indigenous girls and the mental health and wellbeing of Indigenous girls by focusing attention to the often overlooked intersections of age, geography, gender-expression and Indigeneity. An IBPA analysis also locates the source of the girls’ challenges within structural and systemic problems such as colonialism and neo-colonialism, including racism, poverty, sexism and the intersections of these in her life.

However, the greatest challenge for intersectionality, and indeed for IBPA policy analysis, is the relationship to colonization of Indigenous peoples worldwide. Given the historic and ongoing colonization of Indigenous nations within Canada, and other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, together with post-colonial and transnational issues of colonization impacting policy throughout the world, colonialism needs to be critiqued as a central component of any policy while at the same time, resisting any kind of essentialization of Indigenous experience. So while IBPA is important for attending to many intersecting factors, including gender, sexuality, geography, age, and because it advances a commitment to social change, it does not centre Indigenous sovereignty. Until intersectionality acknowledges its own colonial history it is not well situated to address the challenges that Indigenous communities experience, in particular, violence against Indigenous girls.

This case study therefore calls for an Indigenous IBPA that is intersectional, inherently activist, responsive to local and global colonization forces, and theorized for the emergent “multifarious, polyvocal” Indigenous identity within a clear goal of sovereignty [ 64 ]. To do this, the author develops an Indigenous IBPA (IIBPA) situating mental health and trauma among Indigenous girls who have experienced violence within a broader context and acknowledging their resistance and agency at the intersection of colonialism, poverty, patriarchy, racism and discrimination, among other systems. This expanded approach understands and locates Indigenous policy analysis within the context of colonialism, past and current, and within community and relationships within the community.

Centering colonization, sovereignty, agency and resistance through an expanded Indigenous IBPA framework, leads to the recognition of the multi-generational impact of colonization and trauma and points towards policy solutions that acknowledge sovereignty, build on resistance and emerge from the strengths within the community and within girls themselves. Indigenous girls and women are the best guides of determining their own needs in this respect, as they are already engaging in daily acts of understanding, negotiating and resisting colonial policy. Numerous examples of such capacity and strength are highlighted by examples including survivance stories of Angel Streets, the film Highway of Hope [ 65 ] , Indigenous girls groups and in individual Indigenous girls’ stories.

An IBPA within an Indigenous framework understands the diversity that exists within communities and across Indigenous cultures. An Indigenous IBPA (IIBPA) argues for policy processes to be rooted in a deep awareness of the forces of colonial oppression, past and present, situated and developed in the local Indigenous community and knowledge, and include a holistic understanding of health policy as including mental, spiritual, physical and emotional, and would build on the strengths and resistance that exist within Indigenous communities, blending traditional and contemporary approaches. And, by focusing on the agency of individual Indigenous girls and women, the implementation of an IIBPA would support the development of more ethical, anti-colonial and ultimately less violent policies for dealing with violence against Indigenous girls.

Case 6: HIV testing and the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure

To the dismay of many public health actors, the Supreme Court of Canada recently ruled that that the duty for an individual with HIV to disclose her/his serostatus can be dispensed only when: a condom is used and the individual has a low viral load [ 66 ]. This case study helps to illuminate some of the reasons that the recent decision is regressive and highly dangerous from a public health and equity perspective. It examines the possible relationship between innovations in laboratory technologies that can detect HIV during early stages of infection and the increasing use of the criminal law to prosecute alleged cases of HIV non-disclosure in Canada. The case study argues that both targeted HIV testing initiatives and the prosecution of alleged HIV non-disclosure cases in Canada ignore the structural drivers of the epidemic and problematically conceive of the ‘problem’ which must be addressed. The analysis has international implications given the growing trend globally to criminalize people living with HIV in cases of HIV non-disclosure where exposure and/or transmission occurs [ 67 ].

The flexible nature of the IBPA Framework allowed a multilevel analysis to be conducted across two complex policy domains. An IBPA reveals not only the unintended effects that policies may have on differentially situated actors (for example, the ways in which HIV-disclosure may be particularly difficult for some groups of women) but also the unintended effects health and health-related policy responses may have upon one another for example, how a culture of criminalization may serve as a deterrent to getting tested for HIV). By considering complex public health issues together, key tensions can be identified within and across different health and health-related policy areas. This exploratory IBPA provides both in-depth, historically situated analysis of these policy domains as well as summary tables that concisely review key issues both separately and in relation.

Critical analysis reveals the importance of reflecting on the idea of standpoint when thinking about the ‘value added’ of the IBPA in three interrelated respects. First, an IBPA accounts for the standpoint of the policy actor/researcher performing the analysis. Conducting an IBPA demands ‘doing’ reflexivity and accounting for one’s intersectional standpoint and the place from which one views a policy issue. Second, the notion of standpoint is important in considering the range of actors (or standpoints) that should be engaged when conducting an IBPA and the diverse sources of evidence need to get a robust picture of the policy problem. Third, the conception of standpoint helps to elucidate the imagined standpoints and subject positions of persons within policy. As reviewed, policies have the ability to ‘create’ people and an IBPA helps to reveal the possible disjunctures between imagined/constructed standpoints within policies and the everyday actualities of persons who sit at varied axes of oppression and marginalization.

IBPA underscores how building on the lived experiences and knowledges of persons has transformative potential and is central to thinking about how policy actors use categories of ‘most-at-risk populations’ (MARPs) in policy strategies—e.g., what groups like ‘gay’, ‘MSM’ (men who have sex with men) or ‘Black MSM’ may reveal and/or erase. Building on this point, the author argues:

Intersectionality can help make visible the kinds of mutually constituting intersections that must be considered in complex policy fields…an IBPA demands that policy actors consider the complex, dialectical nature between systems of penalty and privilege and the individuals and groups who have intersectional standpoints along various social identities and lived actualities [ 68 ].

The generation of these new, equity-focused perspectives is a key advantage to intersectional thinking.

While testing is an important albeit insufficient aspect of HIV-prevention efforts, this analysis demonstrates the ways in which the increasing trend towards criminalizing HIV non-disclosure cases in Canada poses significant public health challenges for mobilizing an effective response to the epidemic. As noted above, using an IBPA allowed for an exploration of why HIV/AIDS policies and governmental strategies must be understood as relational processes. Further, this IBPA provides an explication of the ways in which medical technologies have significant implications for sexuality and the law across diverse policy fields.

Echoing the analysis advanced in this case study, civil society groups internally have been working to underscore the many reasons why the “creep of criminalization” is problematic and highly stigmatizing for people living with HIV [ 66 ]. This IBPA engages with current advocacy efforts in Canada and internationally to illuminate the advocacy strategies used and challenges faced by actors seeking to challenge and transform dominate modes of disease governance. Placing analytic attention to these efforts, such as the campaign for prosecutorial guidelines in Ontario, Canada reviewed by Grace, creates an opportunity to consider opportunities for coalition building and intersectoral action.

Case 7: Funding of gay men’s HIV prevention

For three decades, gay men have remained a key population dramatically impacted by HIV in the province of British Columbia. However, despite this well documented inequity, policies and investments to support prevention activities among this population have generally fallen short. An audit conducted in 2001 concluded that only 1% of the HIV funding went for gay men’s prevention [ 69 ]. This neglect was subsequently reported by activists, researchers and policy makers [ 70 ] – however, there has been little discussion to why this state of neglect is allowed to persist as gay men continue to account for over half of the HIV infections in the region [ 71 ]. This case study applied the IPBA Framework to explore the current state of funding and identified the processes and key issues that prevent adequate funding for HIV prevention with gay men.

This review, like previous ones, demonstrated a lack of investment in gay men’s HIV prevention, however the IBPA Framework was useful in identifying some issues that were not raised in previous analysis and discourses on HIV prevention funding. These issues were revealed through qualitative interviews with key informants that were guided by the Framework’s questions. The IBPA questions were also carefully adapted to the specificity of the topic to guide the analysis.

Working through the questions from the Framework helped identify some key tensions in the funding allocation process for HIV prevention. One of these tensions was identified by the Framework’s attention to diverse knowledges. Indeed, there were dramatic differences between the community and public health’s definition and understanding of HIV prevention. While, the public health definition emphasizes clinically based approaches such as the expansion of testing and treatment, community described prevention as the promotion of health and wellness from a holistic and right-based perspective. When reviewing funded initiatives, the vast majority of the interventions subscribed to the public health definition of prevention; with most prevention dollars for gay men going to activities related to HIV testing. However, research and observations to date suggests that a singular focus on testing and treatment is unlikely to resolve the epidemic among gay men [ 72 ]. Other strategies must be promoted to reduce gay men’s inequities in terms of HIV infection, including community led initiatives since they have been generally much more successful at reducing HIV transmission than public health interventions [ 73 ].

The IBPA Framework also helped reveal multiple assumptions behind the distribution of HIV prevention funding. For example, it is often assumed in prevention that gay men form a monolith and that the “at risk populations” described by public health (such as gay men, injection drug users, Aboriginal population etc.) are all-distinct. The IBPA Framework emphasizes that individuals and communities are constituted of multiple and interacting social locations and that therefore may belong to multiple “at risk” categories and therefore can potentially find themselves at greater risk of HIV infection. However, when reviewing currently funded initiatives, none address gay men who belong to multiple “subordinate” or “at risk” group such as gay men of colour, Aboriginal gay men, gay men in prison, gay men who inject drugs. These groups tend to be left without any interventions, therefore increasing inequities within the gay community.

The common explanation from gay men’s advocate has generally been that homophobia, and homophobia alone, is the cause of the lack of resources for HIV prevention. However, the application of the IBPA revealed a pattern of systemic discrimination against gay men that is defined at the intersection of heterosexism, medicalization of prevention and sex panic. The application of the Framework’s questions showed a complete lack of funded interventions that address the sexual health needs and sexual rights of gay men – in fact, there was evidence that governments refrain from funding sexualized interventions. The increased support for medical intervention as noted by this analysis may be directly linked to the discomfort of governments and public health institutions at being perceived as supporting homosexuality or sexualities they see as perverted.

By illuminating these factors and providing a new perspective on the factors preventing funding for HIV prevention, the IBPA Framework can help propose radically different solutions for advocacy and to reverse the situation. Several scholars have noted that intersectionality has the potential to help identify less obvious similarities among populations and groups that can lead to coalition building [ 74 ],[ 75 ]. In this case, gay men have generally been alone within the HIV movement to denounce homophobia within governments. However, this isolation could shift if the focus is diverted away from the subordination associated with a gay identity and towards a focus on sexual rights that intersect with gay health, but also Indigenous health, women’s health, etc. Gay men may have been mostly alone to cope with the impacts of homophobia within the AIDS infrastructures, but other groups have suffered of moralistic views on sexuality with whom gay advocates could partner to see their sexual rights promoted within the HIV field.

In this paper we aim to expand current paradigms of policy analysis by introducing an IBPA Framework and importantly, demonstrating its worth in a variety of health related policy areas. The case studies strive to bring issues of equity to the fore and ultimately inspire other policy practitioners and researchers to use this approach in their own policy work. While the examples here show the potential and significance of operationalizing intersectionality, it is important to note that the IBPA Framework is not without its challenges.

First, the very process of implementing such an approach can be resisted by those who are not open to social justice oriented change and/or asking difficult questions about power and structural asymmetries in the context of politics and policy. Second, even among those committed to such change, the IBPA may be rejected for its purposeful movement away from prioritizing - a priori - certain factors, often seen as central to shaping inequities, such as gender or Indigenous sovereignty and resistance, and instead leaving the determination of what is important to the process of discovery. Third, new types of expertise are required to move beyond the status quo of specifically focusing on single or even additive approaches (e.g., gender + age + race) and instead capturing multiple and intersecting locations and social structures. Often the evidence required for an IBPA application is either absent or in very nascent stages of existence. Related to this is the challenge of ensuring that when possible all relevant lived positions in relation to a policy problem or priority are captured and that in the process, appropriate types of data are collected and analyzed.

As illustrated by the diverse case studies in this paper, researchers chose which IBPA questions to focus on. While providing important flexibility, this flexibility also raises the issue of whether something was missed from the final analysis because of the avenues of inquiry that were chosen or alternatively left out. And finally, even if the IBPA is rigorously applied and new ways of thinking about a policy problem or issue are revealed there still remain obstacles in terms of translating complex knowledge into accessible condensed messages for policy actors to digest and understand. Ultimately there are no guarantees that such critical research will lead to action or more precisely structural change. Processes of social transformation have to involve many kinds of interventions, actions and actors, including but not limited to the realm of policy analysis.

Nevertheless, the IBPA Framework, as demonstrated by the case studies presented here, is an innovative mechanism for analyzing the operation of power and processes of stigmatization in policy making. It is important to highlight that the architects of the IBPA envisioned it to be a living document that will change and evolve over time as a range of end users pilot test and provide feedback on how the Framework can be improved and made more practical, effective and precise. The IBPA Framework and case studies presented in this paper are thus a first step in contributing to the emerging literature in the field, expanding current paradigms of policy analysis, and allowing policy actors to see themselves as critical and potentially transformative players in the development, implementation and evaluation of policy.

a For a detailed discussion and comparison of key current equity-focused policy analysis tools used to capture the differential effects of policy on the population in Canada, including sex and gender based analysis (SGBA) and health and health equity impact assessments (HIAs/HEIAs), see Hankivsky et al. [ 22 ].

b The IBPA Framework contains sub-questions relating to each overarching question to help guide analyses. Please see Hankivsky [ 11 ] for more details.

Cole BL, Fielding JE: Health impact assessment: a tool to help policy makers understand health beyond health care. Annu Rev Public Health. 2007, 28: 393-412. 10.1146/annurev.publhealth.28.083006.131942.

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Haber R: Health Equity Impact Assessment: a primer. 2010, Wellesley Institute, Toronto, Ontario

Google Scholar  

Health Canada: Sex and Gender-Based Analysis (SGBA). 2010. http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/gender-genre/analys/gender-sexes-eng.php .

Mahoney M, Simpson S, Harris E, Aldrich R, Stewart Williams J: Equity focused Health Impact Assessment Framework. 2004, The Australasian Collaboration for Health Equity Impact Assessment, Sydney, Australia

Signal L, Martin J, Cram F, Robson B: Health Equity Assessment Tool: a user’s guide. 2008, New Zealand Ministry of Health, Wellington

Simpson S, Harris E, Harris-Roxas B: Health impact assessment: an introduction to the what, why and how. Health Promot J Austr. 2004, 15 (2): 162-167.

Hankivsky O: Health inequities in Canada: intersectional frameworks and practices. 2011, UBC Press, Vancouver, BC

Hankivsky O, Cormier R: Intersectionality: moving women’s health research and policy forward. 2009, Women’s Health Research Network, Vancouver

Sen G, Iyer A, Mukherjee C: A methodology to analyse the intersections of social inequalities in health. J Hum Dev Capab. 2009, 10 (3): 397-415. 10.1080/19452820903048894.

Article   Google Scholar  

Weber L, Fore ME: Race, ethnicity, and health: an intersectional approach. Handbooks of the sociology of racial and ethnic relations. Edited by: Vera H, Feagin JR. 2007, Springer, New York, 191-218. 10.1007/978-0-387-70845-4_12.

Chapter   Google Scholar  

Hankivsky O: An Intersectionality-Based Policy Analysis Framework. 2012, Institute for Intersectionality Research and Policy, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC

Bunjun B: Feminist organizations and intersectionality: contesting hegemonic feminism. Atlantis. 2010, 34 (2): 115-126.

Collins PH: Black feminist thought: knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. 1990, Routledge, New York

Crenshaw K: Demarginalizating the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory, and antiracist politics. U Chi Legal F. 1989, 1989: 139-167.

Crenshaw K: Mapping the margins: intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. S L Rev. 1991, 43 (6): 1241-1299. 10.2307/1229039.

Van Herk KA, Smith D, Andrew C: Identity matters: Aboriginal mothers’ experiences of accessing health care. Contemp Nurse. 2011, 37 (1): 57-68. 10.5172/conu.2011.37.1.057.

Hancock AM: When multiplication doesn’t equal quick addition: examining intersectionality as a research paradigm. Perspect Polit. 2007, 5 (1): 63-78. 10.1017/S1537592707070065.

Grace D: When oppressions and privileges collide: a review of research in health, gender and intersectionality in late (post) modernity. Can J Hum Soc Sci. 2010, 1 (1): 20-24.

Bowleg L: When black + lesbian + woman ≠ black lesbian woman: the methodological challenges of qualitative and quantitative intersectionality research. Sex Roles. 2008, 59: 312-325. 10.1007/s11199-008-9400-z.

Collins PH: Black feminist thought: knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. 2000, Unwin Hyman, New York, 2

Weber L, Parra-Medina D: Intersectionality and women’s health: charting a path to eliminating health disparities. Adv Gend Res. 2003, 7 (3): 181-230. 10.1016/S1529-2126(03)07006-1.

Hankivsky O, Grace D, Hunting G, Ferlatte O: Introduction: why intersectionality matters for health equity and policy analysis. An Intersectionality-Based Policy Analysis Framework. Edited by: Hankivsky O. 2012, Institute for Intersectionality Research and Policy, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, 7-30.

Hankivsky O, Cormier R: Intersectionality and public policy: some lessons from existing models. Polit Res Q. 2011, 64 (1): 217-229. 10.1177/1065912910376385.

Phoenix A, Pattynama P: Intersectionality. Eur J Womens Stud. 2006, 13: 187-192. 10.1177/1350506806065751.

Rönnblom M: Policy, power and space: towards an intersectionality methodology in policy analysis. Paper presented at the POWER Conference: September 2008; Tampere, Finland ; 2008

Yuval-Davis N: Intersectionality and feminist politics. Eur J Womens Stud. 2006, 13 (3): 193-209. 10.1177/1350506806065752.

Bishwakarma R, Hunt VH, Zajicek A: Beyond one-dimensional policy frameworks: a practical guide for an intersectional policy analysis. Himalaya Res Bull. 2008, 27 (1–2): 19-30.

Parken A, Young H: Integrating the promotion of equality and human rights for all. 2007

Parken A: A multi-strand approach to promoting equalities and human rights in policy making. Policy Polit. 2010, 38 (1): 79-99. 10.1332/030557309X445690.

Peterson WE, Medves JM, Davies BL, Graham ID: Multidisciplinary collaborative maternity care in Canada: easier said than done. J Obstet Gynaecol Can. 2007, 29 (11): 880-886.

PubMed   Google Scholar  

Maternity Care Enhancement Project: Supporting local collaborative models for sustainable maternity care in British Columbia: recommendations from the Maternity Care Enhancement Project. 2004, BC Ministry of Health, Victoria, BC

British Columbia Aboriginal Maternal Health Project: Aboriginal maternal health in Canada: A toolbox (draft). 2006, BC Ministry of Health, Victoria, BC

British Columbia Perinatal Health Program [BCPHP]: BCPHP Obstetric Guideline 19: Maternity Care Pathway. 2010, BCPHP, Vancouver, BC

Benoit C, Carroll D, Millar A: But is it good for non-urban women’s health? Regionalizing maternity care services in British Columbia. Can Rev Soc. 2002, 39 (4): 373-395. 10.1111/j.1755-618X.2002.tb00626.x.

Gagnon, AJ, Wahoush O, Dougherty G, Saucier JF, Dennis CL, Merry L, Stanger E, Stewart DE: The childbearing health and related service needs of newcomers (CHARSNN) study protocol. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 2006, 6(31). doi:10.1186/1471-2393-6-31

Carstairs S: Still not there. Quality end-of-life care: a progress report. June 2005. [ http://www.chpca.net/media/7883/Still_Not_There_June_2005.pdf ]

Skinner MW, Rosenberg MW: Co-opting voluntarism? Exploring the implications of long-term care reform for the nonprofit sector in Ontario. Environ Plann C. 2005, 23 (1): 101-121. 10.1068/c0434.

Stajduhar KI: Examining the perspectives of family members involved in the delivery of palliative care at home. J Palliative Care. 2003, 19: 27-35.

Quality End of Life Care Coalition of Canada: Blueprint for action 2010 to 2020. A progress report. 2010 [ http://www.qelccc.ca/media/3749/eng_progress_report_20102012-07-10_2.pdf ]

Seale C: Constructing death: the sociology of dying and bereavement. 1998, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Book   Google Scholar  

Exley C: Review article: the sociology of dying, death and bereavement. Sociol Health Ill. 2004, 26 (1): 110-122. 10.1111/j.1467-9566.2004.00382.x.

Williams AM, Crooks VA, Whitfield K, Kelley ML, Richards JL, Dykeman S: Tracking the evolution of hospice palliative care in Canada: a comparative case study analysis of seven provinces. BMC Health Serv Res. 2010, 10: 147-10.1186/1472-6963-10-147. doi:10.1186/1472-6963-10-147

Article   PubMed Central   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Turner BS: Medical power and social knowledge. 1995, Sage, London

Armstrong P, Armstrong H: Wasting away: the undermining of Canadian health care. 1996, Oxford University Press, Toronto, ON

Canada H: It’s your health: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. 2006, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON

Hunting G, Browne AJ: Decolonizing policy discourse: reframing the ‘problem’ of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. Women’s Health Urban Life. 2012, 11 (1): 35-53.

Salmon A: ‘It takes a community’: constructing Aboriginal mothers and children with FAS/FAE as objects of moral panic in/through a FAS/FAE prevention policy. J Assoc Res Mothering. 2004, 6 (1): 112-123.

Dej E: What was once sick is now bad: the shift from victim to deviant identity for those diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. Can J Sociol. 2011, 36 (2): 137-160.

Fiske J, Browne AJ: Paradoxes and contradictions in health policy reform: implications for First Nations women. Women’s Health Report for the BC Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health [BCCEWH]. 2008, BCCEWH, Vancouver, BC

Tait CL: Simmering outrage during an “epidemic” of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Can Woman Stud. 2008, 26 (3/4): 69-76.

Ministry of Children and Family Development: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: building on strengths. A provincial plan for 2008–2018. 2008, Ministry of Children and Family Development, Vancouver, BC

Hankivsky O, Reid C, Cormier R, Varcoe C, Clark N, Benoit C, Brotman S: Exploring the promises of intersectionality-type methodologies for advancing women’s health research. Int J Equity Health. 2010, 9 (5): 1-15.

Loppie-Reading C, Wien F: Health inequalities and social determinants of Aboriginal peoples’ health. 2009, National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health, Prince George, BC

Adelson N: The embodiment of inequity: health disparities in Aboriginal Canada. Can J Pub Health. 2005, 96 (Suppl 2): S45-S61.

Eppley K: Rural schools and the highly qualified teacher provision of No Child Left Behind: a critical policy analysis. J Res Rural Educ. 2009, 24 (4): 1-11.

Reimer-Kirkham S, Anderson JM: The advocate-analyst dialectic in critical and postcolonial feminist research: reconciling tensions around scientific integrity. Adv Nurs Sci. 2010, 33 (3): 196-205. 10.1097/ANS.0b013e3181e4a7d3.

Bryant T: An introduction to health policy. 2009, Canadian Scholar’s Press, Toronto, ON

Patterson LL: Aboriginal roundtable to Kelowna Accord: Aboriginal policy negotiations, 2004–2005. 2006, Parliamentary Information and Research Service, Library of Parliament, Ottawa, ON

Fridkin AJ: Addressing health inequities through Indigenous involvement in health-policy discourses. Can J Nurs Res. 2012, 44 (2): 108-122.

Fredericks B, Adams K, Edwards R: Aboriginal community control and decolonizing health policy: a yarn from Australia. Democratizing health: consumer groups in the policy process. Edited by: Löfgren H, Leahy M, Leeuw ED. 2011, Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc, Northhampton, MA, 81-96.

Representative for Children and Youth & Office of the Provincial Health Officer: Kids, crime and care: health and well-being of children and care. Youth justice experiences and outcomes. 2009, Representative for Children and Youth, Victoria, BC

Ministry of Children and Family Development: Child and youth mental health plan for BC. 2003, Government of BC, Victoria, BC

Clark N: Perseverance, determination and resistance: an Indigenous Intersectional-Based Policy Analysis of violence in the lives of Indigenous girls. An Intersectionality Based Policy Analysis Framework. Edited by: Hankivsky O. 2012, Institute for Intersectionality Research & Policy, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, 133-159.

Grande S: Red pedagogy: Native American social and political thought. 2004, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, Toronto, ON

Smith JD, Yee J: Building a Highway of Hope. 2009, The Highway of Tears Initiative, Toronto, ON

Grace D, McCaskell T: We are not criminals: activists working to address the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure. Global HIV/AIDS Politics, Policy, and Activism. Edited by: Smith RA. 2013, Praeger, California, 353-375.

Grace D: Legislative epidemics: the role of model law in the transnational trend to criminalise HIV transmission. Med Humanities. 2013, 39 (2): 77-84. 10.1136/medhum-2012-010336.

Grace D: Reconceiving the ‘problem’ in HIV prevention: HIV testing technologies and the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure. An Intersectionality Based Policy Analysis Framework. Edited by: Hankivsky O. 2012, Institute for Intersectionality Research & Policy, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, 161-187.

Marchand R: Moving ahead: assessing gay men’s HIV prevention in BC. 2001, British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, BC

Community-Based Research Centre: Setting the agenda: report on the first Gay Men’s Health Summit in British Columbia. 2006, Community-Based Research Centre, Vancouver, BC

British Columbia Centre for Disease Control: Annual surveillance report: HIV and sexually transmitted infections 2009. 2009, British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, STI/HIV Prevention and Control, Vancouver, BC

Wilson DP: HIV Treatment as prevention: natural experiments highlight limits of antiretroviral treatment as HIV prevention. PLoS Med. 2012, 9 (7): e1001231-10.1371/journal.pmed.1001231.

Dowsett GW, Bollen J, McInnes D, Couch M, Edwards B: HIV/AIDS and constructs of gay community researching educational practice within community-based health promotion for gay men. Int J Soc Res. 2001, 4 (3): 205-223. 10.1080/13645570121259.

Cole E: Coalitions as a model for intersectionality: from practice to theory. Sex Roles. 2008, 59: 443-453. 10.1007/s11199-008-9419-1.

Hancock AM: Solidarity politics for millenials: a guide to ending the Oppression Olympics. 2011, Palgrave Macmilliam, New York

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

School of Public Policy, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia (BC), Canada

Olena Hankivsky

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK

Daniel Grace

Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Institute for Intersectionality Research & Policy, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Gemma Hunting

Geography, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Melissa Giesbrecht

Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program, University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, BC, Canada

Alycia Fridkin

Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice, UBC, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Sarah Rudrum

Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Olivier Ferlatte

School of Social Work, UBC, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Natalie Clark

School of Public Policy, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Olena Hankivsky .

Additional information

Competing interests.

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Authors’ contributions

All authors collaboratively developed and wrote the IBPA Framework, drafted sections of their respective case studies and approved the final manuscript. The lead author drafted all other sections of the paper, edited and augmented sections in the case studies as required. The second and third authors (Grace and Hunting) actively edited and provided feedback to the entire manuscript. Hunting also formatted the final version of the manuscript for submission.

Authors’ original submitted files for images

Below are the links to the authors’ original submitted files for images.

Authors’ original file for figure 1

Authors’ original file for figure 2, rights and permissions.

This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Hankivsky, O., Grace, D., Hunting, G. et al. An intersectionality-based policy analysis framework: critical reflections on a methodology for advancing equity. Int J Equity Health 13 , 119 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-014-0119-x

Download citation

Received : 13 August 2014

Accepted : 26 November 2014

Published : 10 December 2014

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-014-0119-x

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Policy analysis
• Reflexivity

International Journal for Equity in Health

ISSN: 1475-9276

• General enquiries: [email protected]

Higher Education Policy Analysis Using Quantitative Techniques

Data, Methods and Presentation

• © 2021
• Marvin Titus 0

Counseling, Special, and Higher Education, University of Maryland, College Park, USA

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

• Offers a clear approach to conducting higher education policy analysis
• Features numerous examples, exercises, and data sets in policy analysis
• Includes sample syntax written in Stata
• Includes sample PowerPoint presentations explaining education policy analysis

Part of the book series: Quantitative Methods in the Humanities and Social Sciences (QMHSS)

5497 Accesses

1 Citations

3 Altmetric

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Compact, lightweight edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info
• Durable hardcover edition

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (10 chapters)

Front matter, introduction.

Marvin Titus

Asking the Right Policy Questions

Identifying data sources, creating datasets and managing data, getting to know thy data, using descriptive statistics and graphs, introduction to intermediate statistical techniques, advanced statistical techniques: i, advanced statistical techniques:ii, presenting analyses to policymakers, back matter.

• statistical methods
• public policy
• institutional research
• higher education
• regression models
• secondary data

About this book

Authors and affiliations, about the author, bibliographic information.

Book Title : Higher Education Policy Analysis Using Quantitative Techniques

Book Subtitle : Data, Methods and Presentation

Authors : Marvin Titus

Series Title : Quantitative Methods in the Humanities and Social Sciences

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60831-6

Publisher : Springer Cham

eBook Packages : Mathematics and Statistics , Mathematics and Statistics (R0)

Copyright Information : Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021

Hardcover ISBN : 978-3-030-60830-9 Published: 15 May 2021

Softcover ISBN : 978-3-030-60833-0 Published: 15 May 2022

eBook ISBN : 978-3-030-60831-6 Published: 14 May 2021

Series ISSN : 2199-0956

Series E-ISSN : 2199-0964

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : XI, 243

Number of Illustrations : 35 b/w illustrations

Topics : Statistics for Social Sciences, Humanities, Law , Education Policy , Statistical Theory and Methods , Educational Policy and Politics

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

• Homework Help
• Essay Examples
• Citation Generator
• Writing Guides
• Essay Title Generator
• Essay Topic Generator
• Essay Outline Generator
• Flashcard Generator
• Plagiarism Checker
• Paraphrasing Tool
• Conclusion Generator
• Thesis Statement Generator
• Introduction Generator
• Literature Review Generator
• Hypothesis Generator
• Policy Analysis Essays

Policy Analysis Essays (Examples)

1000+ documents containing “policy analysis” .

Filter by Keywords:(add comma between each)

Policy analysis compassion fatigue and quality of.

Policy Analysis Compassion Fatigue and Quality of Care: A Policy Analysis Nurses enter their profession in hopes of a rewarding and fulfilling career caring for those in need. However, many of them do not realize the stress that can accumulate by caring for those who need them the most. Long-term stress as a caregiver can lead to a condition known as compassion fatigue. This form of burnout affects caregivers in every area of the nursing profession. Caregiver fatigue is a result of experiencing trauma that has occurred to others, but to which the nursing professional is exposed vicariously through their role as caregiver of the person. Caregivers can experience stress symptoms such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, irritability, anger outburst, startle responses, anxiety, and other common stress symptoms (Abendroth, 2011). If the condition continues the nurse may experience a decreased capacity to be empathetic to the needs of others. Caregiver fatigue differs….

Abendroth, M., (Jan 31, 2011) "Overview and Summary: Compassion Fatigue: Caregivers at Risk" OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. 16 (1). Retrieved from  http://nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/T  ableofContents/Vol-16-2011/No1-Jan-2011/Overview-and-Summary-Compassion- Fatigue.aspx

Boyle, D., (Jan 31, 2011) "Countering Compassion Fatigue: A Requisite Nursing Agenda" OJIN:

The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. 16 (1). Manuscript 2. Retrieved from

Policy Analysis Critique - Hong Kong Health

Policy Analysis Critique - Hong Kong Health Care System Policy Analysis Critique: Hong Kong Health Care System The health care system in Hong Kong is believed to be one of the best in the world. The majority of people there live longer than people in many other developed nations, and the infant mortality rate is also very low. Those things show that people in Hong Kong are committed to their health and that they have a government that enacts policies to protect them and allow them to have full access to health care. Many countries do not offer that to their citizens, so Hong Kong is actually something of a rarity - and allows its people to enjoy a life expectancy of upwards of 80 years for both men and women. That is the second-longest life expectancy of any country in the world. Of course, there are imperfections in the health care….

Adab, P., & Macfarlane, DJ. (1998) Exercise and health - new imperatives for public health policy in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Medical Journal, 4(4): 389-393.

American College of Sports Medicine. (1975). Guidelines for graded exercise testing and exercise prescription. Philadelphia, PA: Lea and Febiger.

Berlin, J.A. & Colditz, G.A. (1998) A meta-analysis of physical activity in the prevention of coronary heart disease. American Journal of Epidemiology, 132: 612-28.

DeBusk, R.F., Stenestrand, U., Sheehan, M. & Haskell, W.L. (1990). Training effects of long vs. short bouts of exercise in health subjects. American Journal of Cardiology, 65: 1010-3.

Policy Analysis Governments and Organizations

Patton (1990) identifies six steps for policy analysis. Firstly, we must verify and define the details of the problem. This initial step ensures that objectives are clarified and any ambiguity resolved. Secondly, the evaluation criteria are created. These criteria are necessary to enable the comparison and measurement of measures. The cost of the program or policy is examined in its multifaceted components. Once the first two steps are adequately and effectively, completed options to the existing policy can be examined and considered. This step demonstrates the incremental nature of policy analysis. Each step is often dependent on successfully completing the first step. The fourth step of policy analysis is the evaluation of the alternative policies. Policy analysis is inadequate if the competing policies are not examined for their feasibility and value. This evaluative action would usually involve different qualitative and quantitative analyses. Subsequently it becomes important to distinguish between alternative policies.….

Patton C. (1999). Steps for a successful policy analysis. Retrieved from  http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/tutorial/Barrien/barrien.htm 

Marston, G. (2004). Social Policy and Discourse Analysis: Policy Change in Public Housing.

London: Ashgate Publishing Limited.

Policy Analysis an In-Depth Investigation

The students from K-12 will receive daily choices about their food which will include fresh fruits, whole grains and dairy products. The new policy will provide for students in K-12 to receive educational lessons about the importance of healthy eating as well as how to make the right food choices to be sure to get the proper nutrients in their diet. The Kindergarten through third grade students will have a weekly class that will be part of their physical education training. It will consist of guest speakers and discussions about what healthy food is and how food helps the body grow. The third through sixth grade students will meet once a week as well but they will also be taught how to plan a menu for one meal and instructed on what they can choose for that meal to help make it a healthy choice. By middle school the students will have much more….

Policy Analysis of Oregon's Death

In March of 2005, she was finally removed from life support and died thirteen days later. The case had 14 appeals, numerous motions, petitions and hearings in Florida courts, five suits in the Federal District Court; Florida legislation struck down by the Supreme Court of Florida; a subpoena by a congressional committee in an attempt to qualify Terri for witness protection; federal legislation and four denials of certiorari from the Supreme Court of Florida (Jacoby 2005). The courts continued to hold that Terri was in a permanent vegetative state (PVS), and an autopsy showed that most of Terri's brain had atrophied. Leeb outlines the responsibility of social workers to be knowledgeable in policy and law concerning end of life decisions. Sensitivity to ethical and moral considerations is also urged. Cultural differences may be encountered in such situations, as well. A final discussion of the Oregon Death With Dignity Act reminded the….

Annas, GJ (2005). "Culture of life" politics at the bedside: the case of Terri Schiavo. New England Journal Med, 1710, (352-355)

Betzold, M. (1993). Appointment with Dr. Death. New York: Momentum Books.

Coueman, Diane. (2000). Assisted Suicide and Disability. Human Rights: Journal of the Section of Individual Rights & Responsibilities, 27 (1), 5-7.

Caplan, a. (2005). Interview with Arthur Caplan, Ph.D. PBS Frontline/WGBH Educational Foundation. Retrieved October 19, 2006 at  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kevorkian/medicine/caplan1.html

Policy Analysis Family Impact Analysis

Principle 1: Family support and responsibilities Support and supplement parents? And other family members? ability to carry out their responsibilities? The Act (2006) provides for parents who are attempting to take good care of their families, even if they are sometimes unsure about how they should go about doing that. Because it is vital that parents are able to work with their children and care for them safely and properly if children are to stay in the home, it is clear that parenting classes and other methods are needed to ensure that family members treat children appropriately (Edwards, 2010). Not all children come from "good" homes, and some of those homes include parents who also did not come from "good" homes, meaning that the cycle is continuing and should be broken (Goodman, 2006). If the cycle of abuse or other family difficulties cannot be broken, children and their parents and other family….

Avery, R.J., Butler, J.S., Schmidt, E.B., & Holtan, B.A. (2009). AdoptUsKids national photolisting service: Characteristics of listed children and length of time to placement. Children and Youth Services Review, 31(1): 140-154.

Bruskas, D. (2008). Children in Foster Care: A Vulnerable Population at Risk. 21 Journal of Children & Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing 70, 71.

Davidson, H. (2008-2009). Federal law and state intervention when parents fail: Has national guidance of our child welfare system been successful? 42 Family Law Quarterly 481.

Edwards, J.L. (2010). Relative Placement in Child Protection Cases: A Judicial Perspective. Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 61: 1 -- 44.

Policy Analysis Child Protective Service Include Abuse Foster Care and Adoption

Policy Analysis Child Protective Service Include Abuse, Foster Care and Adoption Child physical abuse did not receive widespread attention in this country until a 1962 medical journal article discussed patterns of suspicious injuries in children. ithin four years, all 50 states had passed laws requiring certain professionals to report cases of suspected child maltreatment. These laws were intended to protect children because they are a particularly vulnerable portion of the population. As reporting increased, states developed systems to support their child protection responsibilities, and a number of federal laws were enacted that have guided the development of states' child protection systems. The primary responsibility for responding to cases of child maltreatment rests with state agencies. States must comply with federal child abuse and neglect guidelines to receive federal funds and have some independence of how the services are provided. The policies of Child Protective Services (CPS) and the Department of Family Services….

Works Cited

Besharov, D.J. And with Dembosky, J.W. Child Abuse: Threat or Menace - How Common is it Really? Op-Ed in Slate: Oct. 3, 1996).

Bess, R., Urbel, J.L., and Geen, R. The Cost of Protecting Vulnerable Children II What has Changed since 1996? (February 01, 2001). Retrieved November 2, 2005 from  http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=310071 

Christian, S.M. New directions for child protective services: Supporting children, families, and communities through legislative reform. Denver, CO: National Conference of State Legislatures, July 1997.

Costin, L.B., Karger, H.J., and Stoesz, D. The politics of child abuse in America. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Policy Analysis -- Gang Activity in New

Policy Analysis -- Gang activity in New York City Identification of a problem Nowadays the American society is facing a pool of problems and this pool includes the well-known issue of gang activity, i.e. A group of people targeting innocent people for money and spreading violence. National Gang Centre (NGC) was amongst the first ones to take an initiative to address this problem within the United States. A National Youth Gang Survey (NYGS) was conducted in 1996 which provided an overall picture of gang problem in United States, including the distribution and level of gang problems within the state of New York. The NYGS is acknowledged as the first international survey that targets the responsible citizens of each dominion on an annual basis and inquires about the frequency of gang activity in their area and their idiosyncrasies. The survey was conducted each year from 1996 to 2009 using the same methodology, and….

Adamson, C. (1998). Tribute, turf, honor and the American street gang: Patterns of continuity and change since 1820. Theoretical Criminology, 2, 57 -- 84.

Adamson, C. (2000). Defensive localism in white and black: A comparative history of European-American and African-American youth gangs. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 23, 272 -- 298.

Decker, S.H. (2007). Youth gangs and violent behavior. In D.J. Flannery, A.T. Vazsonyi, and I.D. Waldman (eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Violent Behavior and Aggression (pp. 388 -- 402). Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.

Egley, A. Jr., Howell, J.C., and Major, A.K. (2006). National Youth Gang Survey: 1999 -- 2001. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Policy Analysis IT Policy Thailand

Furthermore it was a challenge for the government to provide computers and other equipments at large level (Thaichayapong, 1997) Similarly ussell Pipe who was the Deputy Director of Global Informaiton Infrastructure Commission also criticized the policy saying that there were many risks involved in spreading IT facility and also that the expectations are high. He also stated that IT policy 2000 aims to provide TI facilities all through the country but practically it will need ten years to offer these services to every part of the country particularly to the rural areas. This problem was due to the inability of two government institutions CAT and TOT which were not capable of providing information infrastructure to fulfil the requirements of NIL. Pipe also commented that the dream of Thailand to be an information society in the next decades is not realistic because of the strong influence of buddism on Thai society….

AlAwadhi, S., & Morris A. 2008. The Use of the UTAUT Model in the Adoption of e-Government Services in Kuwait. Proceedings of the 41st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, USA, 1-11.

F. Statistics. Press Room viewed on 7 December 2011.  http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics , 2010.

Guntasopatr, P.1999, 'IT and development policies in Thailand, and the evaluation of their interaction' Doctoral Thesis, the University of Manchester, 1999

J. Lynn. Internet Users to Exceed 2 Billion This Year viewed 6 December, 2010  http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69I24720101019 , 2010

Policy Analysis Barack Obama on

Financing Obama's failure to mandate that every adult American must participate in some form of health insurance plan has drawn criticism from Hillary Clinton and her supporters. Also, even nonpartisan industry analysts note that his plan may not solve the systemic problems generated by uninsured Americans of all ages: "Millions of children qualify for coverage through S-CHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program), but parents don't always buy coverage for their children. Some can't afford it, while others have no idea it exists. Voluntary programs always leave people behind, even when they include subsidies like those in Obama's plan. In fact, the Urban Institute notes that no study has ever shown better than a two-thirds rate of participation in a voluntary program. This means Obama's plan would leave about 15 million people without coverage, at least. This is an improvement over the 47 million without insurance now, but public health care costs….

Holahan, John & Allison Cook. (2005). "Supplemental data." Health Affairs. Published by the Urban Institute. Excerpt at the Health Care Blog. Retrieved 27 May 2088 at  http://www.thehealthcareblog.com/the_health_care_blog/2005/11/policy_the_unis_1.html 

Krugman, Paul. (4 Feb 2008). "Clinton, Obama, insurance." The New York Times. Retrieved 27 May 2008 at  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/04/opinion/04krugman.html?_r=1&oref=slogin 

Obama, Barack. (2008). "Change we can believe in: Health care coverage for all."

Retrieved 27 May 2088 at  http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/#coverage-for-all

Policy Analysis Issues in Healthcare

what dives/motivates povides. In a nutshell, these authos asset that any healthcae system built on maket pinciples is doomed to eventual cisis as payes (meaning patients by and lage, whethe diectly o though govenment taxation) attempt to eceive adequate cae while educing the flow of dollas to povides while povides attempt to incease the flow of dollas fo the same o lowe levels of cae (Haington & Estes, 2008). Issues of pesonal and medical ethics aside, it must be acknowledged that in any othe maket setting this would pefectly descibe behavio, and though this view is commonly bandied about in public discussion and political hetoic it is not a fequent featue of empiical eseach. Though this might be due to the causal assetion this pespective makes it could potentially point to the capitalist bias that exist in healthcae policy examination in the United States, and is wothy of futhe….

references when it comes to care provision, and developing healthcare policies that address these variances while maintaining consistency in direct medical practice could potentially lead to vast improvements in the level and the perception of care provided (Ryan, 2000).

Social impacts not directly related to healthcare must also be taken into account when examining healthcare policy in relation to patient outcomes, as policy must effectively manage all large-scale social trends that can influence healthcare demands (Stuckler et al., 2009). Unemployment, poverty, and crime all have separate and intertwined impacts on healthcare issues and outcomes, for example, and must be properly accounted for in healthcare policy theory and practice yet are complexities often left out of healthcare policy analysis (Stuckler et al., 2009).

Policy Analysis Policies Are Sometimes

In the public sector employees continue to be largely covered by generous pension plans and, unlike in the private sector, there has been decrease in the number of plans or the amount available for funding. This differential between the public and private sector has raised the high brows of many and has brought into question the imbalance now present between private and public employment. The present situation that exists between the availability of pension plan coverage between the private and public sector has caused government officials and voters to look at the equities of the situation (rown, 2011). In essence, the private sector is being asked to fund the pension plans of the public sector and being asked to provide the public sector with benefits that are virtually non-existent for private employees. Many question the fairness of such a situation and are, therefore, clamoring for change. Public sector pension plans are….

Bibliography

Associated Press. (2010, October 28). Gays in the Military Study: Most U.S. Troops, Families Say Gays OK. Retrieved May 4, 2011, from Huffington Post:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/28/gay-military-acceptance-m_n_775753.html 

Beland, D. (2007). Social Security: History and Politics from the New Deal to the Privatization Debate. Manhattan, KS: University Press of Kansas.

Belkin, A. (2010, September 19). Five myths about don't ask, don't tell. Washington Post .

Brandon, E. (2006, June 29). Ten ways to pay for retirement. U.S. News .

Policy Analysis for War Veterans

Policy Analysis for Veterans The objective this paper is to discuss the stigmatization and mental disorders of Veterans after the service. After the Iraqi war, the numbers veterans suffering from mental illness continues to increase, and one of the factors that aggravate the problems is a stigmatization from the society. The paper identifies that the costs of providing treatment for veterans continue to increase in the last 10 years coupled with an increase in the waiting times to receive their benefits and healthcare delivery. The study also explores the political, economic, legal and social factors affecting Veterans administration. The study recommends that the government should provide both intensive and quality care for servicemen during and after the operations. Moreover, the government should pass a bill to reduce the waiting times to receive their benefits and care. The options will assist in reducing veterans mental problems and stigmatization they face in the….

Acosta, J., Becker, A., Cerully, J. et al. (2014). U.S. Military Making Progress on Reducing Stigma Associated with Seeking Help For Mental Illness. Retrieved April 24, 2017, from  http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR426.html 

Congress (2016). H.R.203 - Clay Hunt SAV Act 114th Congress (2015-2016). Veterans' Affairs.

Department of Veterans (2015). VA Mental Health Services Public Report. Department of Veterans Affairs. Retrieved April 24, 2017, from  https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/docs/Mental_Health_Transparency_Report_11-24-14.pdf 

IAVA (2016). IAVA Program Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Retrieved April 24, 2017, from  https://iava.org/programs/

How to Conduct a Policy Analysis

Policy Analysis Abstract This paper focuses on a bill currently going through Congress that would restrict the right of Americans to voice their support for the oppressed and marginalized Palestinian people by joining in the BDS Movement. This paper discusses why this issue is important to social welfare policy and shows that the bill would deny people the right to advocate by using social, political and economic means. The opposition towards the Israeli settlement practices in Palestine has already been condemned by the UN, but the U.S. Congress is now seeking not only to condemn the UN for its 2016 resolution against Israel, but it is also seeking to condemn any American person engaged in interstate commerce who chooses to support the UN resolution by boycotting Israeli products. This bill therefore would marginalize and socially, politically and economically exclude Americans in a dangerous way. This policy analysis paper also shows how already….

Policy Analysis Critique Rationale for the Chosen

Policy Analysis Critique ationale for the chosen policy Avian influenza is a virus causing lethal infection in human beings (Sims et al., 2003). It can be transmitted from patients to other human beings. It is a deadly virus with track record of 6 deaths in Hong Kong in 1997. That incident was just the start of this health issue. The virus spread enormously and caused H5N1 infection numerous times in Hong Kong. The dawn of 21st century witnessed multiple instances of H5N1 virus (Ellis et al., 2004). It was expected that the virus could be found in the poultry animals and was infectious. In order to prove it, there were certain laboratory tests conducted on chickens. These tests helped prove the presence and effects of H5N1 virus (Shortridge et al. 1998). Subsequently, it was proved that the chickens were highly pathogenic (Shortridge et al., 1998). It was also proved that the virus was….

Ellis TM, Bousfield RB, Bissett LA, Dyrting KC, Luk GS, Tsim ST, Sturm-Ramirez K, Webster RG, Guan Y, Malik Peiris JS. Investigation of outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in waterfowl and wild birds in Hong Kong in late 2002. Avian Pathol, 2004 Oct; 33(5): 492 -- 505.

Ferguson NM, Fraser C, Donnelly CA, Ghani AC, Anderson RM. Public health risk from the avian H5N1 influenza epidemic. Science 2004; 304:968-9.

Ferguson NM, Galvani AP, Bush RM. Ecological and immunological determinants of influenza evolution. Nature 2003; 422:428-33.

Fielding R, Leung GM, Lam TH, Lam WWT. The use of live animal markets and perception of risk among the Hong Kong population. Department of Community Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, 2004.

Would you be able to provide me with ideas for essay topics on policy?

Policy Analysis and Evaluation The effectiveness of different policy interventions in addressing social issues (e.g., poverty, healthcare, education) The impact of policy changes on specific populations or industries The role of evidence-based policymaking in improving policy outcomes The challenges and opportunities of implementing and enforcing policy The ethical implications of policy decisions Policy Design and Development Innovative approaches to policy design (e.g., behavioral economics, collaborative governance) The factors that influence policy adoption and implementation The role of stakeholders in policy development and evaluation The impact of technology on policy design and implementation The challenges of balancing competing interests in policymaking Policy Implementation....

I\'m looking for an essay gender equality in your community or culture that is [description, e.g., research-based, persuasive, historical]. What options do you have?

Here are some options for essays on gender equality in your community or culture: 1. Research-based essay: Explore the current state of gender equality in your community or culture by examining statistical data, trends, and research findings. Discuss the barriers to gender equality that exist and propose potential solutions to address these challenges. 2. Persuasive essay: Make a case for why gender equality is important in your community or culture by presenting arguments and evidence to support your position. Use persuasive language and rhetoric techniques to convince readers of the need for greater gender equality. 3. Historical essay: Trace the history of gender....

I\'m looking for an essay probation outlook that is [description, e.g., research-based, persuasive, historical]. What options do you have?

Here are some options for probation outlook essays: 1. Research-based: An essay that examines current research and studies on probation effectiveness, recidivism rates, and best practices in probation programming. 2. Persuasive: An essay arguing for reform and improvement in the probation system, advocating for increased funding, better training for probation officers, and more resources for rehabilitation programs. 3. Historical: An essay that traces the history of probation in the United States, discussing its origins, evolution, and key milestones in the development of probation as a method of criminal justice. 4. Comparative: An essay that compares and contrasts different probation systems from around the world,....

Research Paper

Health - Nursing

Policy Analysis Compassion Fatigue and Quality of Care: A Policy Analysis Nurses enter their profession in hopes of a rewarding and fulfilling career caring for those in need. However, many of…

Policy Analysis Critique - Hong Kong Health Care System Policy Analysis Critique: Hong Kong Health Care System The health care system in Hong Kong is believed to be one of the…

Discussion Chapter

Patton (1990) identifies six steps for policy analysis. Firstly, we must verify and define the details of the problem. This initial step ensures that objectives are clarified and any…

Health - Nutrition

The students from K-12 will receive daily choices about their food which will include fresh fruits, whole grains and dairy products. The new policy will provide for students in K-12…

In March of 2005, she was finally removed from life support and died thirteen days later. The case had 14 appeals, numerous motions, petitions and hearings in Florida…

Principle 1: Family support and responsibilities Support and supplement parents? And other family members? ability to carry out their responsibilities? The Act (2006) provides for parents who are attempting to take…

Policy Analysis Child Protective Service Include Abuse, Foster Care and Adoption Child physical abuse did not receive widespread attention in this country until a 1962 medical journal article discussed patterns…

Criminal Justice

Policy Analysis -- Gang activity in New York City Identification of a problem Nowadays the American society is facing a pool of problems and this pool includes the well-known issue of…

Education - Computers

Furthermore it was a challenge for the government to provide computers and other equipments at large level (Thaichayapong, 1997) Similarly ussell Pipe who was the Deputy Director of Global…

Financing Obama's failure to mandate that every adult American must participate in some form of health insurance plan has drawn criticism from Hillary Clinton and her supporters. Also, even nonpartisan…

Literature Review

what dives/motivates povides. In a nutshell, these authos asset that any healthcae system built on maket pinciples is doomed to eventual cisis as payes (meaning patients by and…

Women's Issues - Sexuality

In the public sector employees continue to be largely covered by generous pension plans and, unlike in the private sector, there has been decrease in the number of…

Policy Analysis for Veterans The objective this paper is to discuss the stigmatization and mental disorders of Veterans after the service. After the Iraqi war, the numbers veterans suffering from…

Policy Analysis Abstract This paper focuses on a bill currently going through Congress that would restrict the right of Americans to voice their support for the oppressed and marginalized Palestinian people…

Policy Analysis Critique ationale for the chosen policy Avian influenza is a virus causing lethal infection in human beings (Sims et al., 2003). It can be transmitted from patients to other…

Integrating policy analysis into your qualitative research

It’s easy to get seduced by the excitement of primary data collection, and plan your qualitative research around methods that give you rich data from face-to-face contact with participants

Daniel Turner

It’s easy to get seduced by the excitement of primary data collection, and plan your qualitative research around methods that give you rich data from face-to-face contact with participants. But some research questions may be better illustrated or even mostly answered by analysis of existing documents.

This ‘desk-based’ research often doesn’t seem as fun, but can provide a very important wider context that you can’t capture even with direct contact with many relevant participants. But policy analysis is an often overlooked source of important contextual data, especially for social science and societal issues. Now, this may sound boring – who wants to wade through a whole lot of dry government or institutional policy? But not only is there usually a long historical archive of this data available, it can be invaluable for grounding the experiences of respondents in wider context.

Usually, interesting social research questions are (or should be) concerns that are addressed (perhaps inadequately) in existing policy and debate. Since social research tends to focus on problems in society, or with the behaviour or life experiences of groups or individuals, participants in qualitative research will often feel their issues should be addressed by the policy of local or national government, or a relevant institution. Remember that large companies and agencies may have their own internal policy that can be relevant, if you can get access to it.

Policy discussed at local, state or national level is probably easy to get access to in public record. But it may also be interesting to look at the debate when policy was discussed, to see what issues where controversial and how they were addressed. These should also be available from national archives such as Hansard (in the UK) or the House of the Clark in the USA. You can also do comparisons of policy across countries to get an international perspective, or try to explain differences of policy in certain cultures.

Try to also consider not just officially adopted policy, but proposed policy and reports or proposals from lobbying or special interest groups. It’s often a good way to get valuable data and quotes from different forces acting to change policy in your topic area.

But there is also a lot of power in integrating your policy and document analysis with original research. You can cross reference topics coming out of participant interviews, and see if they are reflected in policy document. Discourse analysis, and using keyword searches to look for common terms across all your sources can be revealing.

Looking at how the media represents these issues and the debates over policy can also be interesting. Make sure that you record which outlet an article comes from, as this can be a useful way to compare different representations of events from media groups with their own particular bias or interpretation.

There are of course many different to policy analysis that you can take, including quantitative and mixed-method epidemiologies. While general interpretive qualitative analysis can be revealing, consider also also discourse and meta-systhesis . There’s a short overview video to policy document analysis the from the Manchester Methods Institute here . The following chapter by Ritchie and Spencer is also a good introduction, and for a full textbook try Narrative Policy Analysis: Theory and Practice by Emery Roe (thanks to Dr Chenail for the suggestion!).

Qualitative software like Quirkos can help bring all this data from different sources into one project, allowing you to create a common (or separate) coding framework for your analysis. In Quirkos you can use the source properties to define where a piece of data comes from, and then run queries across all types of source, or just a particular type. While any CAQDAS or QDA software will help you manage document analysis, Quirkos is quick to learn and so lets you focus on your data. You can download a free trial here, and student licences are just US$65 .

Sign up for more like this.

Ontological Social Policy Analysis: An investigation into the ontological assumptions underpinning the social security reforms of the UK Coalition Government 2010-2015

--> Newman, Jack (2019) Ontological Social Policy Analysis: An investigation into the ontological assumptions underpinning the social security reforms of the UK Coalition Government 2010-2015. PhD thesis, University of Leeds.

This thesis builds from a central premise: all social policy, like all social research, relies on a number of assumptions about the fundamental nature of social reality and human existence. These assumptions are ‘ontological’ in the sense that ‘ontology’ is the philosophy of being and existence. Ontological assumptions are effectively the positions we take in response to the fundamental, unavoidable, and controversial questions from which human understanding proceeds. These questions include: ‘is there an objective social reality?’; ‘do we have free-will?’; ‘are we the product of our social context?’; and ‘are institutions and cultures causally significant?’. It is increasingly accepted in the academic literature that these questions are a crucial aspect of social research, because they are the base level upon which knowledge is built. And yet, despite this acceptance, the academic literature largely ignores the role of ontological assumptions in policy making. It is the central argument of this thesis that ontological assumptions are a crucial aspect of social policy making. As well as asserting the importance of ontological assumptions in social policy, the thesis develops a critical realist framework for their analysis. This framework is named ‘ontological social policy analysis’, and it is applied here to UK social security policy. The empirical research takes the form of a textual analysis and considers a number of key social policy documents. The analysis begins with the post-2005 ‘modernisation’ projects in the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats, and then goes on to consider their time in office as coalition partners (2010-2015), with a particular focus on the DWP and its flagship reform, Universal Credit. In the course of the analysis, a number of ontological contradictions are unearthed, each of which has the potential to significantly undermine the effectiveness of the policy reforms. Such findings demonstrate both the possibility and fecundity of ‘ontological social policy analysis’.

--> Final eThesis - complete (pdf) -->

Filename: Newman_J_POLIS_UoLeeds_PhD_2019.pdf

Description: Full thesis manuscript

Embargo Date:

You do not need to contact us to get a copy of this thesis. Please use the 'Download' link(s) above to get a copy. You can contact us about this thesis . If you need to make a general enquiry, please see the Contact us page.

Do a more advanced search »

Search for dissertations about: "policy analysis"

Showing result 1 - 5 of 1370 swedish dissertations containing the words policy analysis .

1. A Systems Tool for Prescriptive Policy Analysis : Labelled Causal Mapping Method for Policy-oriented Modelling, Simulation and Decision analysis

Author : Osama Ibrahim ; Aron Larsson ; David Sundgren ; Maja Schlüter ; Stockholms universitet ; [] Keywords : NATURVETENSKAP ; NATURAL SCIENCES ; Public Policy ; Systems analysis ; Causal mapping ; Policy modelling and simulation ; Policy evaluation ; Computer and Systems Sciences ; data- och systemvetenskap ;

Abstract : The elicitation and processing of relevant information is the core of any policy decision-making process. Modelling is about making sense of the available information. Models are able to incorporate the contextual influences on policy making (e.g. READ MORE

2. Locating Wind Power Policy : The Mechanics of Policy Subsystem Interactions

Author : David Newell ; Simon Matti ; Sverker Jagers ; Charlotta Charlotta ; Erik Hysing ; Luleå tekniska universitet ; [] Keywords : SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP ; SOCIAL SCIENCES ; policy analysis ; policy implementation ; advocacy coalition framework ; network management ; wind power ; renewable energy ; Political Science ; Statsvetenskap ;

Abstract : This dissertation investigates the drivers behind political decision-making and the policy outcomes resulting from political decisions. It is proposed that in policy processes where political decisions are made at multiple levels or across multiple policy subsystems, policy outcomes can be understood in terms of the mechanisms (i.e. READ MORE

3. Taxation of intermediate goods : a CGE analysis

Author : Lars Bohlin ; Lars Hultkrantz ; Mats Nilsson ; Örebro universitet ; [] Keywords : SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP ; SOCIAL SCIENCES ; Optimal taxation ; energy taxation ; environmental taxes ; emission trading ; climate policy ; carbon leakage ; CGE-analysis ; input-output tables ; SOCIAL SCIENCES ; SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP ; Economics ; Nationalekonomi ; Economics ; Nationalekonomi ;

Abstract : This dissertation is concerned with tax rates for the use of commodities in general, and energy in particular. Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) models are used to analyze the normative question of whether the tax rate for intermediate use by firms should be the same as the tax rate for final consumption by households. READ MORE

4. Doing Language Policy : A Micro-Interactional Study of Policy Practices in English as a Foreign Language Classes

Author : Alia Amir ; Jan Anward ; Mathias Broth ; Nigel Musk ; Arja Piirainen-Marsh ; Linköpings universitet ; [] Keywords : HUMANIORA ; HUMANITIES ; Conversation analysis ; ethnomethodology ; language policy ; practiced language policy ; language policing ; classroom discourse ; EFL ; TEFL ; codeswitching ; Samtalsanalys ; etnometodologi ; språkpolitik ; language policing ; klassrumsinteraktion ; engelskundervisning ; kodväxling ;

Abstract : This study investigates foreign language classroom talk and micro-level language policy-in-process from an ethnomethodological conversation analytic perspective. The study is based on 20 hours of video recordings from 20 lessons in an English as a Foreign Language classroom (EFL) in grades 8 and 9 of an international compulsory school in Sweden between the years 2007 and 2010. READ MORE

5. Politics of Contemporary Education Policy : The case of programming in the Swedish curriculum

Author : Anthemis Raptopoulou ; Tore West ; Jonas Gustafsson ; Ulrika Bennerstedt ; Neil Selwyn ; Stockholms universitet ; [] Keywords : SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP ; SOCIAL SCIENCES ; policy ; politics ; education policy ; educational technology ; digitalization of education ; programming ; coding ; policy networks ; network ethnography ; critical discourse analysis ; pedagogik ; Education ;

Abstract : In recent years, computer programming has been introduced into school curricula in several national education systems across the world making it a key issue on the education policy agenda. In March 2017, the Swedish Government announced their decision to introduce programming as a mandatory teaching element as of the first grade of primary school. READ MORE

Searchphrases right now

• Gradient effect
• road traffic
• low-grade tumors
• indoor climate control
• Health conditions
• Analog to digital
• site to site
• wall effects
• silicon membrane
• electrical Engineering

Popular searches

• Hemicellulose
• branching process
• Social Services
• knowledge management thesis
• integrated water resources management
• Glucose oxidase
• in experimental economics

Popular dissertations yesterday (2024-04-17)

• On the identification of visual defects in children in general and prematurely born children in particular
• Integrating BIM and GIS for 3D City Modelling : The Case of IFC and CityGML
• Keeping Eye and Mind on the Road
• Transcription factors regulating the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus
• Participatory approach to data warehousing in health care : UGANDA’S Perspective
• Paleoenvironment of the autochthonous sedimentary rock sequence at Laisvall, Swedish Caledonides
• Conjugated Polymer-based Conductive Fibers for Smart Textile Applications
• Tubular microwave heating
• Identification of the adult septic patient in the prehospital and emergency department setting
• Early childhood caries in relation to mode of delivery, preterm birth, tooth brushing habits, and signs of the metabolic syndrome
• Popular complementary terms: essays, phd thesis, master thesis, papers, importance, trend, impact, advantages, disadvantages, role of, example, case study.

See yesterday's most popular searches here . Dissertations.se is the english language version of Avhandlingar.se .

People & Community

Research & Impact

Career Services

Advanced Policy Analysis (APA)

Consulting projects for graduating mpp students, proposal submission.

We are no longer accepting proposals for projects to be done in Spring 2023. We will be accepting proposals for Spring 2024 projects in late Summer 2023.

• Faculty Letter to Prospective Clients
• APA Project Listings 2001-present (Password protected, access for current students only)

Overview for Prospective Clients - What is the APA (Advanced Policy Analysis)?

The APA (Advanced Policy Analysis) project is a thorough analysis conducted by a Goldman School student (who serves as a consultant) of a major policy question facing a "real-world" organization/practitioner (who serves as the client), applying the interdisciplinary methods, approaches, and perspectives studied in GSPP’s core curriculum. This project is required of all GSPP students in their final spring semester of study in order to complete the Master of Public Policy degree, and serves as the student's Master's Thesis.

Through this project, each student consultant conducts a thorough policy analysis of and provides recommendations to clients for complex policy problems, decisions, and/or opportunities facing a client organization (with faculty supervision and advice). Students identify and weigh policy options, generating analysis and recommendations that they present to the client in the form of a written report and presentation for clients to consider.If you or someone else in your organization would benefit from having a public policy graduate student analyze and develop recommendations regarding a policy problem faced by your organization, we encourage you to consider submitting a proposal. You are more than welcome to forward this information to other organizations who might be interested.

For more details about the APA, please review the Faculty Letter to Prospective Clients .

APA Project Timeline

Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Read our research on:

Full Topic List

Regions & Countries

• Publications
• Our Methods
• Short Reads
• Tools & Resources

Read Our Research On:

Political Typology 2017

Survey conducted June 8-18 and June 27-July 9, 2017

The Generation Gap in American Politics

Generational differences have long been a factor in U.S. politics. These divisions are now as wide as they have been in decades, with the potential to shape politics well into the future.

Political Typology Reveals Deep Fissures on the Right and Left

The partisan divide on political values grows even wider.

Gaps between Republicans and Democrats over racial discrimination, immigration and poverty assistance have widened considerably in recent years.

Partisan Shifts in Views of the Nation, but Overall Opinions Remain Negative

Republicans have become far more upbeat about the country and its future since before Donald Trump’s election victory. By contrast, Democrats have become much less positive.

Since Trump’s Election, Increased Attention to Politics – Especially Among Women

Following an election that had one of the largest gender gaps in history, women are more likely than men to say they are paying increased attention to politics.

Support for Same-Sex Marriage Grows, Even Among Groups That Had Been Skeptical

Two years after the Supreme Court decision that required states to recognize same-sex marriages nationwide, support for allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally is at its highest point in over 20 years of Pew Research Center polling on the issue.

Public Has Criticisms of Both Parties, but Democrats Lead on Empathy for Middle Class

Both political parties’ favorability ratings are more negative than positive and fewer than half say either party has high ethical standards.

Download Dataset

1615 L St. NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20036 USA (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax (+1) 202-419-4372 |  Media Inquiries

Research Topics

• Age & Generations
• Coronavirus (COVID-19)
• Economy & Work
• Family & Relationships
• Gender & LGBTQ
• Immigration & Migration
• International Affairs
• Internet & Technology
• Methodological Research
• News Habits & Media
• Non-U.S. Governments
• Other Topics
• Politics & Policy
• Race & Ethnicity
• Email Newsletters

ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER  Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of  The Pew Charitable Trusts .

Copyright 2024 Pew Research Center

Terms & Conditions

Privacy Policy

Cookie Settings

Reprints, Permissions & Use Policy