Evidence based policy making helps people make better decision about policies, programmes and projects by putting the best available evidence from research and evaluation at the heart of the policy process. Evidence, however, is only one factor that influences policy making; others include values, belief and ideology, experience, expertise and judgement, available resources, bureaucratic systems, lobbyists and pressure groups, and unexpected contingencies. Evidence-based policy making requires knowledge from research and evaluation to be integrated with these other factors.
The aim of this programme is to systematically consider what constitutes evidence for policy making purposes, and to better understand how research evidence can be used to improve policy making. Different types, notions and sources of evidence will be explored and these will be critically appraised to determine their value and contribution to policy making. Participants will also learn about the different types of research and evaluation that can contribute to policy making, and how to integrate them with the other factors that influence the policy process.