PUAD 5008 Evidence-Based Decision-Making

Course Description

This course introduces students to how evidence can inform policy and managerial decision-making in various policy, management, and program evaluation scenarios. In this course, students will explore the following questions:
• How do legislative staff, public and nonprofit organization employees, and stakeholders gather and
utilize evidence in decision-making?
• How do decision-makers assess the types and the quality of the evidence? What are the implications
of differences in the types and quality of the evidence?
• How do decision-makers evaluate policies and programs using evidence from both practice and research?

Students will learn how to bridge the gap between the research and policymaking communities and how to
generate useful information and recommendations for policymakers. Students will utilize the knowledge
and skills that they learned in PUAD 5003 (Research and Analytic Methods) and apply them to real-world,
professional problem-solving situations. We will cover the definition of evidence-based and evidence-informed
decision-making, tools that can be used to craft policies and programs in public or non-profit
organizations, and analytical techniques that are commonly used to discover evidence-based practices.

This course provides opportunities for students to use skills developed in Research and Analytic Methods
(including developing research/evaluation questions, designing surveys and interview guides, and analyzing
data) to inform decisions and/or develop recommendations in multiple policy, management, and
program evaluation scenarios.