Abstract:

The practice of evidence-informed policy making (EIPM) consists of systematically searching, analyzing, synthesizing and disseminating the best available evidence to inform decision makers about policy problems, policy tools, implementation options, and/or policy evaluation results. Identifying the best available evidence is not a simple task. The vast majority of research evidence contains risks of bias that hinder the reliability of their conclusions (Ioannidis, 2005, 2014). In order to select the soundest available research evidence, policy analysts need to know how to critically appraise research evidence and identify different risks of bias. Formal theories on expertise acquisition in public bureaucracies suggest that these skills and knowledge should be acquired within academia rather than within government agencies (Gailmard and Patty, 2007). Our previous researches show that few Canadian universities offer courses in critical appraisal to students in political science and public administration. We thus created a 45-hour course in EIPM, POL-7061, that was first offered in 2012 to the students enrolled in the Master's Program in Public Affairs at Laval University, Canada. The course mainly teaches techniques for searching and appraising empirical studies of different types. In 2013, we conducted a before-and-after study to assess the impact of the course on acquisition of basic methodological knowledge among our students (N =13). In 2014, we modified the pedagogical approach based on the subjects that were less well assimilated by the 2013 cohort. We ran a before-and-after study to assess if the course could have a comparable effect on the new cohort. We repeated the exercise on a third cohort in 2015. Results: Mean % of pre-post improvement on the knowledge test was 37% for the 2013 cohort, 51% for the 2014 cohort and 31% for the cohort of 2015. Conclusion: Teaching techniques in EIPM to Master’s students in Public Affairs is feasible and can have a positive impact on their basic methodological knowledge.

Keywords:

Quality improvement, prospective evaluation, before-and-after study, knowledge acquisition, evidence-informed policy.