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SPOL40450

Academic Year 2024/2025

Evidence-Based Policy Making (SPOL40450)

Subject:
Social Policy
College:
Social Sciences & Law
School:
Soc Pol, Soc Wrk & Soc Justice
Level:
4 (Masters)
Credits:
10
Module Coordinator:
Assoc Professor Nessa Winston
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

In this module students will examine the nature, role and impact of evidence on various aspects of the policy process.
Key topics covered in the module include:
-The challenges of providing evidence for policy making and the use (and abuse) of evidence in the policy process
- Research designs and methods commonly employed in policy evaluation and the relative strengths and weaknesses of each
- Accessing and analysing useful sources of relevant data to inform policy making.
-Increasing the impact of evidence on policy design and evaluation.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this module students will be able to:
-Critically analyse the relationship between evidence and policy making
-Source and analyse data to inform policy design and implementation
-Design a project to evaluate a policy
-Critically analyse the relationship between evidence-based policy making and social scientific research.

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

22
Specified Learning Activities

100
Autonomous Student Learning

78
Total

200

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Active/task based learning; short lectures; peer and group work.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Assignment(Including Essay): Evaluation brief/Critique of research. Week 12 Graded No
75
 No
Group Work Assignment: Portfolio collated from mostly in-class assignments. Week 12 Pass/Fail Grade Scale No
25
 No

Carry forward of passed components
No
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Autumn No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.

Name Role
Dr Cliodhna Bairead Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Dr Micheal Collins Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Professor Michelle Norris Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Assoc Professor Nessa Winston Lecturer / Co-Lecturer

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Spring Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Fri 14:00 - 15:50
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