ABSTRACT
This chapter presents crosscutting methods, those that can be useful at all steps in the policy analysis process. They can be used to start quickly on basic policy analysis and planning. The chapter presents procedures for identifying, gathering, and analyzing existing data, for conducting specialized interviews and quick surveys, for producing basic analyses, and for communicating the results. Quick analysis usually begins with a search for existing information in such places as the US Census, federal and state agency websites and publications, policy journals and periodicals, and the work of other analysts. During the past decades, major research libraries have made important changes in the way that patrons conduct searches for articles, monographs, reports, government documents, and data.
