Westat’s Post

For those interested in survey methods the Survey futures initiative in the UK is aiming to develop better practice across academia, government and private sector surveys, see below

Dear experts of Democracy, After a first scoping phase on the Future of Democracy and the main challenges identified we are now going in depth regarding core topics that need attention and further analysis. For this purpose we have launched a call for experts to inform our findings with a variety of approaches and different perspectives. Deadline 31st of July. Further information and the full call at the post below. Please share widely among your networks Participatory and Deliberative Specialist group/PSA European Consortium for Political Research #democracy #politics #politicalscience

There are certain phrases that enter the public sector lexicon and become ubiquitous without ever being properly defined, and that's a hazard to the smooth function of #state and #localgovernment. For example, the phrase “#evidencebased has become ubiquitous, but it's used to mean different things to different people. Fortunately, according to a new Barrett and Greene Inc. Management News item, Results for America, has just issued a report with strong definitions of this and other related terms, designed to help government managers. According to a Results for America blog post, “Investments in evidence-based programs are key to increasing the likelihood that a government will deliver positive results for residents but, on their own, are insufficient . . . “This approach invites governments to select and invest in evidence-based programs in a new, more nuanced, and more participatory way, taking care to both attend to prior research and to the voices of those closest to the challenges they seek to address.” Cheryl Burnett Michele Jolin John M. Kamensky Yi (Elaine) Lu Elizabeth Linos Chris Fabian Don Kettl Sara Lepore Dube Penn State Social Science Research Institute John Bartle Patria de Lancer Julnes, Ph.D. Charles Sallee Click here for the details: https://lnkd.in/ga-ayx4d

This call for experts on democracy launched by my JRC colleagues may be of interest to you if you are an expert in 1. Citizen’s support for and engagement in democracy combined with issues of political equality and equal participation; 2. Supporting democratic quality and the future of democratic institutions; 3. Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on how democracy will function. You have one week to go (deadline 31st July).

🔔NEW on the Data Impact blog 🔔 Jay Dominy, Public Affairs Manager at CLOSER | The home of longitudinal research, introduces CLOSER's policy hub, a tool to help researchers with engagement and policy impact. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/ecpw_fHw #research #policy #impact #data #blog #newpost

How can policy process research help to address policy and policymaking problems? This special issue of the Journal of European Public Policy seeks to address that question by examining the theory and practice of policy analysis. The call for papers sought state of the art articles that conceptualise the politics of policy analysis, and empirical studies that use theoretical insights to analyse and address real world problems. Contributions could draw on mainstream policy theories to explain how policymaking works, and/ or critical approaches that identify and challenge inequalities of power.

In today's fast-evolving public policy landscape, the ability to model and simulate complex socioeconomic systems is more essential than ever. The Policy Prioritization Inferencing (PPI) model provides a powerful framework for assessing decision-making processes, resource allocation, and the long-term structural impacts on society. This tool enables governments, donors, organizations, grant offices, project managers, etc to not only track policy efficiency and impacts but also refine and optimize implementation based on real-world feedback and outcomes, as shown in the shared pseudocode. For those passionate about creating sustainable, data-driven policies, socioeconomic modeling can be a powerful tool. Whether you’re a policymaker, researcher, or developer, diving into this realm allows you to influence how resources are allocated and how policies shape communities over time. Let’s inspire more people to engage in policy prioritization modeling for smarter, more inclusive decision-making! 🌍 Credit to Omar A Guerrero, the creator of the PPI (Policy Prioritization Inferencing) tool. For a more tailored understanding or customized insights on how PPI can benefit your specific needs, feel free to reach out to him directly!

The abstract of a new NBER working paper by Espinosa et al. reports: "Participants randomly assigned to intensive, holistic, wrap-around services have 10 percentage points higher employment rates after one year compared with a control group offered only help with an immediate need." (https://lnkd.in/eHr_Db2Q, ungated: https://lnkd.in/ej2B3tAc) Sounds great, but what really matters is those benefits compared to costs, and how that ratio fares against other opportunities. This program costs about $10,000 per participant, and those employment gains fall to a statistically insignificant 8pp after three years. The authors explore scenarios where effects persist or disappear, applying the concept Marginal Value of Public Funds (MVPF), which exceeds 1 where benefits exceed costs. I explored another scenario: linear decay based on their data points: 10pp in year 1, 9pp in year 2, and so on. Using their 3% discount rate, the MVPF equals 0.93. Using a 8% discount rate (mimicking the private market opportunity cost, relevant to President Biden's proposed sovereign wealth fund), the MVPF falls to 0.78. That is, this program's benefits do not exceed its costs under these assumptions. Thankfully, many interventions produce benefits outweighing the costs--sometimes several times over. MIT's Policy Impacts project has cataloged hundreds of MVPF studies, such as providing Supplemental Security Income to teens, which authors estimate produces benefits 5.6 times its costs. https://lnkd.in/e5n9TA3F While I appreciated the authors including MVPF in the study, highlighting benefit-cost analysis more upfront can help policymakers direct resources to their highest use. P.S. I calculated the MVPF of this program with Claude AI after uploading the paper to it. Here's my conversation: https://lnkd.in/es_mzBPM

“We discuss Big Tech’s power but lack systematic monitoring”, emphasise Sofie Flensburg and Signe Sophus Lai. With their new book, the authors hope to see a growing interest in infrastructure analysis within #Nordic countries and more actors building upon their results and research methodologies. #bigtech #digitalinfrastructure #research https://lnkd.in/dwBphwZg

Attention Scottish Business Owners, and Decision-Makers! 📊 Roger Adams, PhD researcher at University of Stirling, is conducting a PhD research survey to investigate the factors which influence data science adoption within Scottish small firms. Your expertise and input would be invaluable and contribute significantly to the advancement of their academic understanding in this field. This survey is aimed at businesses with between 5 and 49 employees (includes part time employees). Why participate? ✅ Shape the future: Help steer important decisions that shape the landscape of data science in small businesses. ✅ Expand knowledge: Contribute to a growing body of knowledge that supports small business growth and innovation. ✅ Academic-business collaboration: Engage with like-minded professionals and be at the forefront of academic research. Interested in participating? Are you ready to contribute to cutting-edge research that could lead to smarter, more effective integration of data science for businesses like yours? Survey Link 👇 https://lnkd.in/e_aHj9Wh Participant Information Sheet 👇 https://lnkd.in/eSJ3FiwD Contact details 👇 roger.adams@stir.ac.uk. Please read the above Information Sheet before completing the survey, and reach out to Roger if you have any questions. Your contribution will not only benefit the academic community but also pave the way for more data-driven business environments in Scotland. Thank you for your support and participation. #DataScience #ScottishBusiness #Innovation #AcademicResearch #SmallBusinessGrowth #PhDSurvey #ScottishSME #BeTheDifference