Professionals Role and the Use of Research What roles can we have Final Exam Review o Professionals can have roles where they are being both directly and indirectly connected with policy makers o Professionals can Create research and ideas to influence policies Handing out the information Educate Increase citizen participation in process Theoretical Framework o To have a model to construct roles that professionals could have in building family policy o 9 Roles identified with case studies following 1 Research For Family Policy Formulation o Conduct studies to help decide if any social action is needed Acting as identifiers of any problems or as warning signs for potential breakdowns o Examining the functions of family creation economic support childrearing caregiving Looks at causal mechanisms of breakdowns o What gets measured gets done Shows that only issues that have research by professionals are actually able to measured and quantified are said to get passed or even reevaluated and put into effect This means that this role of being a researcher is critical in the formation of policies policies will not get created if they have not been measured 2 Family Policy Implementation o Implementation the task of transforming policy goals into programs operating procedures and regulations Professionals can highlight lessons learned from past efforts of implementation o What could improve process Educating administrators and staff Better data sets to test effectiveness and efficiency to learn from the past Better research better data sets implementation Ongoing monitoring of implementation 3 Family Policy Evaluation o Policy evaluation Program Evaluation Difference is what you re evaluating a program or specific o Family Evaluation Research Does program policy meet stated policy outcome for families Unit of analysis could be parents siblings family members o If there is a good evaluation then you can determine if effectiveness of o Exploring outcomes as well as Which families are reached Under what conditions Why and how program is effective policy program is Because of the design Implementation Extent of family involvement Combination of all 3 o Must have agreement on criteria and accepted ways of measuring if there is no agreement is could be bias 4 Family Research Integration o Research Integration providing concise comprehensive review that stress the most important findings and states any relevant implications for policymakers New insights o Breakdown in integration because policymakers lack the time Inability to know what are good bad studies o If those areas are improves upon professionals can bring concise comprehensive reviews to policymakers 5 Family Research Dissemination o Research Dissemination making research known broadly with intent of seeing it used in policy and public areas o Needed to be specifically tailored for policymakers Debate centered on the importance in value of research and its impact on policy o Role of media in dissemination has been another source of debate especially concerning its roles in releasing information Is it a proper way to release this information Media has been viewed positively because it allows a huge amount of people to be reached however they may be bias 6 Family Impact Analysis o Goes beyond evaluation research to identify if goals could be counter productive o Checklist Wanting to see the unintended consequences Conducted by professional or those trained in the process 7 Teaching Family Policy o NCFR pushed to have this be a part of background for those working in the arena of families and policy o Several challenges posed to teachers in this area Policies continue to change Where should the attention fall on what issues What stance should teachers take o Barrows stresses importance of remaining neutral can achieve this by having connections with people on both sides of the issue Need to reduce bias 8 Citizen Engagement in Family Policymaking o Reinvent idea of citizenship where people take a more active role Traditionally advocacy has centered on moving resources from high to low resource group o Public Problem Solving opens new roles for professional Direct work with policymakers for citizens Helping citizens understand process Teaching others problem solving skills 9 University Involvement in Family Policy Scholarship o University Huge source of research No political ties or motivations o Call for Universities to do more in terms of family policy to have students do more as they exit the university Elevate outreach Grant writing assistance financial backing Reinforcement for faculty to be engaged in outreach within the policy world and educating the public Advocacy vs Education o Family Policy Advocacy Fight for an underrepresented group particular policy alternative Guidelines Potential Consequences Ideas assumptions about role of values in political process Understanding the democratic process The power of engaging in on time citizen action Not a good fit with scientific method o Question of objectivity o May hurt credibility with others because you only see one side of an issue o Family Policy Alternatives Education Informs policy discourse by clarifying potential consequences of policy alternatives Criticisms Can you achieve objectivity Political Neutrality not achievable Potential Consequences Fresh perspective creates an environment for cohesiveness Challenge in evaluating success of these efforts engaging and providing education to all is difficult o How to make the distinction There is some overlap between these two areas as both use research for their purposes Family Impact Seminar combines both gives education but Role of Research sides with families o Barrows highlights that policymaking involves a process where research can be continually inserted Policymaking is a circular process not linear Enlightenment function vs process decision making Roles and Professionals Family Impact Seminars o Wisconsin High participant enthusiasm regarding seminars Gain of greater knowledge regarding families More useful dissemination of information Use with further work in policymaking Change in attitudes regarding research and families 10 Lessons to Connect o Varied delivery geared toward audience different audiences different delivery pushed o Neutral Location no bias towards a group or political agenda being o Connection with legitimate leaders on both sides of the issue o Timing in the importance of the issue Kingdon s framework 3