Evidence-based policy

Evidence-based policy uses research findings systematically alongside practical experience, public values, and political considerations to shape public decisions.

Evidence-informed policymaking: An approach that combines research evidence with other forms of knowledge and judgment in policy decisions. It makes explicit that evidence informs policy without determining choices on its own.
Causal inference: The study of methods for estimating whether an exposure or intervention causes an outcome. Policy choices often depend on whether observed outcomes can be attributed to an intervention.
Evidence-based medicine: Clinical practice that integrates research evidence, professional expertise, and patient values. Its methods and language helped shape evidence-oriented approaches in public policy.
Technocracy: Governance in which technical experts hold substantial authority over public decisions. Evidence-based policy uses expertise but does not require replacing democratic or political judgment.
Performance measurement: The systematic tracking of indicators to assess organizational activity and results. Evidence-oriented policy can expand the use of indicators to monitor public programs.
Systematic review: A structured synthesis that searches for, appraises, and combines studies addressing a defined question. It can summarize a policy question more reliably than selecting individual studies.
Randomized controlled trial: An experiment that randomly assigns participants to intervention and comparison groups to estimate effects. Random assignment can strengthen claims about a policy intervention's causal effects.
What Works Clearinghouse: A United States Department of Education initiative that reviews evidence on education programs and practices. It illustrates centralized assessment of research for decisions about education interventions.
Policy-based evidence making: The selective production or use of evidence to justify a policy chosen for other reasons. It reverses the claimed direction of influence, with policy preferences shaping evidence use.
Policy learning: The process by which policymakers revise beliefs or actions in response to experience and information. Evaluation can turn evidence use into institutional learning across policy cycles.

Linked from 17 pages