ABSTRACT
Decision makers need information but they need specific kinds of infor
mation that is prepared in forms they can digest and use and that is pro
vided in a timely manner. Moreover, the information needs of decision
makers at the national level differ from those of officials at the state and
local government levels. Although policy research is conducted in a wide
variety of situations, each situation requires a unique research strategy. It
is also true, however, that policy researchers need a guide, a common ap
proach to their task, complex and varied though it may be. This chapter
attempts to provide such a guide by synthesizing several popular ap
proaches to policy research and linking them to a common purpose:
meeting the information needs of decision and policy makers. Given this
purpose, our approach to policy research will focus on three main points:
• Identifying the major information needs and information
utilization capabilities in a given policy problem
• Designing and implementing appropriate and feasible research
strategies
• Communicating usable information to decision makers
The chapter begins with a brief introduction to three common models or
approaches that are representative of the ways students are taught to do
policy research. Each approach offers important insights, but none is broad
or flexible enough to serve as a general model for practicing policy re
searchers. In essence, each model assumes that policy research problems are
more clearly and narrowly defined than they are in the real world.
