6 ECTS credits
150 h study time
Offer 1 with catalog number 1021443CER for all students in the 2nd semester
at
a (C) Bachelor - specialised level.
- Semester
- 2nd semester
- Enrollment based on exam contract
- Possible
- Grading method
- Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
- Can retake in second session
- Yes
- Taught in
- English
- Partnership Agreement
- Under interuniversity agreement for degree program
- Faculty
- Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool
- Department
- Communication Sciences
- External partners
- Universiteit Gent
- Educational team
- Ilse Marien
(course titular)
- Activities and contact hours
-
36 contact hours Lecture
18 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
96 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
- Course Content
This course sheds light on the most used methods in policy analysis. It briefly touches upon the concepts of policy and public policy, but its main focus is on the methods that can be used to analyse policies and make prescriptions for new policies. The course does not provide an exhaustive overview of all policy analysis methods. It discusses a selection of methods that are particularly useful to analyse aspects of European and national policy-making. Such methods are: expert interviews, document analysis, case studies, stakeholder assessments, cost-benefit analysis, brainstorm, Delphi, problem structuring, etc. The course adopts a hands-on approach, meaning students will actively experiment with a diversity of methods and apply these to a concrete case study.
- Course material
- Digital course material (Required) : Slides Policy Analysis
Digital course material (Recommended) : Complementary Readings Policy Analysis
- Additional info
.
- Learning Outcomes
-
General Competences
- Students have knowledge and insight regarding applicable research methods in policy analysis.
- Students demonstrate insight in the diversity of sources and techniques.
- Students show a critical attitude with regard to sources and techniques.
- Students can develop their own scientifically grounded judgement and act in the spirit of free inquiry – i.e. with an open, critical-constructive and a-dogmatic attitude. Students do not seek ‘ultimate truths’, yet respond to scientific debate and the relative uncertainty of insights from an open position.
- Students develop an attitude of willingness to listen and respect to one another in order to engage in debates on the basis of scientifically and empirically grounded arguments.
- Students can – with guidance – learn and act independently, creatively, critically and entrepreneurially.
- Students apply, under supervision and on a general and junior level, knowledge and insights regarding diverse research methods of policy analysis. They can communicate their findings.
- Grading
-
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 100% of the final mark.
Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
- Individual Essay
with a relative weight of 50
which comprises 50% of the final mark.
- Group Assignment
with a relative weight of 50
which comprises 50% of the final mark.
- Additional info regarding evaluation
Students are evaluated on the basis of:
- An individual essay in which they are asked to write 1000-1500 words on how to conduct a policy analysis on a given case study;
- An assignment in which they are asked (in group) to apply a diversity of policy analysis methods to a concrete case.
The two parts each make up 50% of the total mark, but only if the student obtains at least 7/20 on each part. If not, the lowest partial grade denotes the total mark. For example, if you have a 9/20 and a 15/20 then your total mark is 12/20. Should you have a 5/20 and a 15/20 then the final score will be 5/20. This is to avoid too much of an imbalance in the learned knowledge.
- Allowed unsatisfactory mark
- The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.
Academic context
This offer is part of the following study plans:
Bachelor of Social Sciences: Communication Studies
Bachelor of Social Sciences: Political Sciences
Bachelor of Social Sciences: Sociology
Master of Biology: Human Ecology