The Mobilization of Scientific Evidence by Public Policy Analysts

Abstract

Research on knowledge mobilization in policy making has been largely focused on identifying relevant factors having an effect on the uptake of evidence by actors and organizations. However, evidence on the magnitude of those effects remains limited and existing methods allowing for this have been scarcely used in this field. In this article, we first provide a rationale for greater investigation of substantive effect sizes, using methods such as mediation analysis and conditional probabilities. Using cross-sectional data from Québec (Canada) government policy analysts, we test an absorptive capacity model and describe direct, specific indirect, and total effects estimated from a path analysis. The results show that some factors have considerable effects, such as physical access and individual field of training, whereas some mediated relations are worth considering. Finally, we discuss some practical implications with regard to policy making and policy analysis but also the methodological standards of empirical research in this field.

Perceptions of Policy Capacity: A Case Study of the Prince Edward Island Public Service Using Theory and Practice

“…With respect to the first reason, similar studies of a sub-national government's policy capacity have been completed in British Columbia (Howlett, 2009a), Saskatchewan (Rasmussen, 1999), and Quebec (Bédard, 2015;Bernier & Howlett, 2012 but not in PEI. With respect to the second reason, the study is significant because it explicitly sought to include public administrators whose job titles did not include "policy" in the title.…”

“…As such, case studies of a single jurisdiction or organization provide researchers with more opportunity to deepen knowledge of public administration phenomenon in specific contexts (see Woodside & Wilson, 2003, p. 497 on "deep understanding"); this makes single case study approaches, as opposed to comparative methods, extremely valuable for understanding policy capacity in unique, small, sub-national island jurisdictions such as PEI. Finally, considering that single case studies of the policy capacity and policy work of the Government of Saskatchewan (Rasmussen, 1999), the Government of British Columbia (Howlett, 2009a), and the Government of Quebec (Bédard, 2015;Bernier & Howlett, 2012 have already been completed, a case study of Government of PEI policy capacity provides the opportunity for this dissertation to add to this small, but important, subset of sub-national policy capacity studies in Canada.…”

Governmental policy capacity and policy work in a small place: Reflections on perceptions of civil servants in Prince Edward Island, Canada from a practitioner in the field

“…There exists a small collection of work which has focused on the policy capacity of sub-national provincial jurisdictions in Canada (e.g., Rasmussen, 1999;Howlett, 2009;Inwood, et al, 2011;Bernier and Howlett, 2012;Bédard, 2015). Many of these studies use interviews and surveys with provincial public administrators and attempt to uncover perceptions of governmental policy capacity.…”