Resources for Chapter 7

Evidence in Policymaking

What the chapter is about

This chapter explores the process of making policy in more detail. It describes evidence-based policymaking and considers the sources of evidence before describing the role of paradigms in policy research. It concludes with a discussion of the limitations of evidence in supporting planning in a complex world.

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The case studies from this chapter are from:

  • Norway
  • UK

References with links to full text where available

Arthur, J. (2017). Policy entrepreneurship in education: Engagement, influence and impact. Routledge. ISBN 9781138214606.

Bigby, M. (2008). The hierarchy of evidence. In H. C. Williams, M. Bigby, A. Herxheimer, L.Naldi, B. Rzany, R. P. Dellavalle, Y. Ran & M. Furue (Eds.), Evidence-based dermatology (2nd ed., pp. 34—37). John Wiley & Sons.  
https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118357606.ch7

Browne, J., Coffey, B., Cook, K., Meiklejohn, S., & Palermo, C. (2019). A guide to policy analysis as a research method. Health Promotion International, 34(5), 1032—1044.
https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/day052

Cairney, P., Heikkila, T., & Wood, M. (2019). Making policy in a complex world. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108679053

Cairney, P. (2021). The UK government’s COVID-19 policy: What does “guided by the science” mean in practice?. Frontiers in Political Science, 3, 624068
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpos.2021.624068/full

Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination. (1979). Task force report: The periodic health examination. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 121(9), 1193—1254.
https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108679053

Drisko, J. W. (2020). Qualitative research synthesis: An appreciative and critical introduction. Qualitative Social Work, 19(4), 736—753.    
 https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325019848808

Evidence-Based Medicine Working Group. (1992). Evidence-based medicine. A new approach to teaching the practice of medicine. JAMA, 268, 2420-2425.

Fischer, F., Miller, G. J., & Sidney, M. S. (Eds.). (2017). Handbook of public policy analysis: Theory, politics, and methods. Routledge. ISBN 9781315093192
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315093192

Gelo, O., Braakmann, D., & Benetka, G. (2008). Quantitative and qualitative research: Beyond the debate. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 42(3), 266—290.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-008-9078-3

Gollust, S. E., Seymour, J. W., Pany, M. J., Goss, A., Meisel, Z. F., & Grande, D. (2017). Mutual distrust: Perspectives from researchers and policymakers on the research to policy gap in 2013 and recommendations for the future. INQUIRY: The Journal of Healthcare Organisation, Provision, and Financing, 54.         https://doi.org/10.1177/0046958017705465

Green, J., & Thorogood, N. (2018). Qualitative methods for health research (4th ed.). SAGE. ISBN 9781526448804

Jullien S. (2021). Sudden infant death syndrome prevention. BMC Pediatrics, 21(Supplement 1), 320.    
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-021-02536-z

Kennedy, J. (2016). Why have the majority of recent polio cases occurred in countries affected by Islamist militancy? A historical comparative analysis of the political determinants of polio in Nigeria, Somalia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Syria. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 32(4), 295—316.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13623699.2017.1294338

Kothari, A., Boyko, J. A., & Campbell-Davison, A. (2015). An exploratory analysis of the nature of informal knowledge underlying theories of planned action used for public health-oriented knowledge translation. BMC Research Notes, 8, Article 424.    
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-015-1391-6

Malekinejad, M., Horvath, H., Snyder, H., & Brindis, C. D. (2018). The discordance between evidence and health policy in the United States: The science of translational research and the critical role of diverse stakeholders. Health Research Policy and Systems, 16, Article 81. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-018-0336-7

Malterud, K., Bjelland, A. K., & Elvbakken, K. T. (2016). Evidence-based medicine–an appropriate tool for evidence-based health policy? A case study from Norway. Health Research Policy and Systems, 14, 1-9.

Morgan, M. G. (2017). Theory and practice in policy analysis: Including application in science and technology. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-18489-3

Morse, J. M., & Niehaus, L. (2009). Mixed method design: Principles and procedures. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.

Murphy, E., & Dingwall, R. (2017). Qualitative methods and health policy research. Routledge. ISBN 9781315127873     
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315127873

Pope, C., & Mays, N. (Eds.). (2020). Qualitative research in health care (pp. 111-134). Oxford, UK:: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN:9781119410836

Rahman-Shepherd, A., Balasubramaniam, P., Gautham, M., Hutchinson, E., Kitutu, F. E., Marten, R., & Khan, M. S. (2021). Conflicts of interest: an invisible force shaping health systems and policies. The Lancet Global Health9(8), e1055-e1056      
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(21)00202-3/fulltext

Rahman, M. S. (2020). The advantages and disadvantages of using qualitative and quantitative approaches and methods in language “testing and assessment” research: A literature review. Journal of Education and Learning, 6(1), 102—112.       
https://doi.org/10.5539/jel.v6n1p102.

Ralston, R., Hill, S. E., da Silva Gomes, F., & Collin, J. (2021). Towards preventing and managing conflict of interest in nutrition policy? an analysis of submissions to a consultation on a draft WHO tool. International Journal of health policy and management, 10(5), 255.     
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9056191/

Romain, P. L. (2015). Conflicts of interest in research: Looking out for number one means keeping the primary interest front and center. Current Reviews in Musculoskeletal Medicine, 8(2), 122—127.   
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12178-015-9270-2

Schoonenboom, J. & Johnson, R.B. (2017). How to Construct a Mixed Methods Research Design. Köln Z Soziol 69 (Supplement 2), 107–131    
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11577-017-0454-1

Smith, B. (2018). Generalizability in qualitative research: Misunderstandings, opportunities and recommendations for the sport and exercise sciences. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 10(1), 137—149. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2017.1393221.

Smith, R., & Smith, L. (2018). Qualitative methods. In L. McConnell & R. Smith (Eds.), Research methods in human rights (pp. 70—93). Routledge.

Stern, C., Lizarondo, L., Carrier, J., Godfrey, C., Rieger, K., Salmond, S., … & Loveday, H. (2021). Methodological guidance for the conduct of mixed methods systematic reviews. JBI evidence implementation, 19(2), 120-129.       
https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/preview/841862/STERN%202020%20Methodological%20guidance.pdf

Tugwell, P., & Knottnerus, J. A. (2015). Is the “Evidence-Pyramid” now dead? Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 68(11), 1247—1250.       
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2015.10.001

Uzochukwu, B., Onwujekwe, O., Mbachu, C., Okwuosa, C., Etiaba, E., Nyström, M. E., & Gilson, L. (2016). The challenge of bridging the gap between researchers and policymakers: Experiences of a health policy research group in engaging policymakers to support evidence informed policy making in Nigeria. Globalisation and Health, 12(1), Article 67, 1—15.      
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-016-0209-1

Verboom, B., Montgomery, P., & Bennett, S. (2016). What factors affect evidence-informed policymaking in public health? Protocol for a systematic review of qualitative evidence using thematic synthesis. Systematic reviews, 5, 1-9       
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13643-016-0240-6

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