How Government Offices Use Research Data?

Data analysis is an essential part of public administration. Without it, no policy can come into existence. Without it, implementation is very impossible. Without it, there is no way to eliminate an outdated policy. Without it, government cannot function properly. Without it, a country may start to go towards corruption and destruction. Yes, it is that important. But how is it used?

Summing up the problem

Some issues are too small for attention. Others are big and thus, need immediate response in the form of either policy or assistance. Do you see how size of the problem matters? Usually, the problem is weighed based on its effect on a vast majority of the population. Public agencies must also find out the reason behind it and for this, they must rely on data. Policy analysis goes hand in hand with it, for the policy itself needs a description in the form of how massive the problem is followed by its attributes.

Example: Majority of the lipsticks have lead. There was one time when women began to get louder about it. To see how big the lead problem is, FDA began testing the lipsticks in their lab.

Forming the policy and program

Before designing a policy or program, it is important to find out how much it will cost,  the problems it will go after, targeted population, geographic locations and much more. All of them can be answered in numeric form. The handyman here, of course, is data analysis.

Example: A tornado damages a city. It is now government's job to help the residents with aid. But how much to give? The answer can be extracted by surveying the damages.

Tracking the active policy and program

An active program or policy generates data continuously. Majority of them are analyzed at least for two reasons. First of all, they reveal room for improvement. Secondly, they prevent abuse and waste. In brief, data analysis helps find out whether the policy or the program is doing its job properly.

Example: A new program is put into action to help mentally challenged patients. A specific department is also there to oversee it. Government wants to make sure that the fund is being used appropriately by the officials. For this,  all their account activities are tracked.

Summing up the outcome

Eventually, government wishes to know whether the policy or program has eliminated the problem in question. This can only be done by looking at the outcome. Nothing does it better than data analysis.

Example: Health insurance policy was changed a few years ago. Has it worked to create a healthy country? This can be answered by looking at the number of people visiting doctors regularly.