Evaluating Existing

Policy
 Policies

“Policy” is “a law, regulation, procedure, administrative action, incentive or

voluntary practice of governments and other institutions.” Policies generally
operate at the systems level and can influence complex systems in ways that can
improve public situation. A policy approach can be a cost-effective way to
create positive changes in large portions of the population. There are several
types of policy, each of which can operate at different levels (national, local, or
organizational)
 Policies

• Legislative policies are laws or ordinances created by elected representatives.

Regulatory policies include rules, guidelines, principles, or methods created
by government agencies with regulatory authority for products or services.
Organizational policies include rules or practices established within an
agency or organization
 Policy Evaluation

• An action which applies evaluation principles and methods to examine the

content, implementation or impact of a policy. Evaluation is the activity
through which understanding of the merit, worth, and utility of a policy is
developed.
 Policy Evaluation
• In a most general sense, any type of analysis that generates and presents
information in such a way as to improve the basis for policy-makers to exercise their
judgment

• From informal, intuitive, deep and careful thinking to elaborated

sophisticated analytic process

• A means of synthesizing information including research results to produce a format

for policy decisions (laying out of alternative courses of actions or choices) and of
determining future needs of policy-relevant information
 Policy Evaluation

• Process of identifying and evaluating alternative policies or programs that

aim to lessen or resolve social, economic or physical problems

• Systematic investigation of alternative policy options and the assembly and

integration of the evidence for or against each option, involving problem
solving approach, collection and interpretation of information and
predicting consequences of alternative courses of action
 Policy Evaluation
• An applied research aimed at acquiring deeper understanding of public problems
and issues and identifying better solution

• An applied 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 public problems

• Search for feasible courses of action, generating information and presenting

evidence of benefits and other consequences that would follow adoption and
implementation of particular course of action
 Policy Evaluation
• Uses information – factual, objective, subjective
• Provides basis for informed decision-making
• Offers alternative courses of action, their benefits and consequences
• Directed at solving a public problem
• Directed at policy makers
• Reflects values and ideals
• Uses multiple methods of inquiry, e.g., benefit-cost analysis, stakeholder analysis,
scenario writing, Delphi technique, etc.
• Both a process and output
 Policy Evaluation

• Process that is used to examine the project, policy or program critically. It

includes the collection and analyzing information related to program or
policy activities and outcomes. Its main purpose is to improve program or
policy effectiveness through identifying the weak areas and changes in the
programming or policy decisions.
 Policy Evaluation

• It is also necessary to correctly evaluate or measure policy in good time to

ensure success of processes. Evaluation is an appropriate stage after the
policy implementation as it is effective to evaluate the policy effectiveness in
terms of accomplishing policy objectives. Along with this, it should also be
noted that, evaluation will be based on formalized outcome indicators and
measures.
 Policy Evaluation
An evaluation plan should also discover the following things:

• The short-term and long-term expected outcomes from the implementation

process
• How the data relative to the policy will be collected
• How the relevant data will be evaluated

The evaluation stage will also discover new problems that are developed through the
implementation process and changes in policy by the problem solving process if
necessary.
 Process of Policy Evaluation
• In the first process of policy evaluation, shareholders collect relevant
information and analyze the relevant data to identify the ability to meet
objectives or goals.
• The second process describes the evaluation process and activities that will
help stakeholders to complete the evaluation process.
• The third process is focusing the evaluation design in guiding the
stakeholder’s method of evaluation..
 Process of Policy Evaluation

• In the fourth process, data and information are collected with the
contributions of stakeholders
• In the fifth process, the data or information is analyzed to reach a conclusion
in terms of attaining policy objectives.
• In the sixth and last process, the objectives of the policy will be achieved,
and the policy reached its outcomes
 Types of Policy Evaluation
Evaluating Policy Content

Does the content clearly articulate the goals of the policy, its implementation
and the underlying logic for why the policy will produce intended change?
Evaluating the development of a policy helps to understand the context,
content, and implementation.
 Types of Policy Evaluation
Evaluating Policy Implementation

Was the policy implemented as intended? The implementation of a policy is a

critical component in understanding its effectiveness. Evaluation of policy
implementation can provide important information about the barriers to and
facilitators of implementation and a comparison between different components
or intensities of implementation.
 Types of Policy Evaluation
Evaluating Policy Impact

Did the policy produce the intended outcomes and impact? Within injury
prevention, the intended impact may be a reduction in injuries or severity of
injuries. However, it is important to evaluate short-term and intermediate
outcomes as well.
 Evaluation in the Policy Process

Problem Policy Strategy and Policy Policy Policy

Identification Analysis Development Enactment Implementation

Implementation Impact
Content Evaluation
Evaluation Evaluation
 Standards for Conducting Evaluation

• Utility: Who wants the evaluation results and for what purpose?
• Feasibility: Are the evaluation procedures practical, given the time, resources,
and expertise available?
• Propriety: Is the evaluation being conducted in a fair and ethical way?
• Accuracy: Are approaches at each step accurate, given stakeholder needs and
evaluation purpose?