Mixed Methods for Policy Research and Program Evaluation

Patricia Burch · Carolyn J. Heinrich

feb 2015 · SAGE Publications

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This practical text equips students, researchers, and policymakers in the social sciences with the tools they need for applying mixed methods in policy research and program evaluation, from design, through data collection, and dissemination. Emphasizing the "how-to"—the set of conceptual and active tasks carried out by mixed methods researchers—the book is illustrated with rich case studies from the authors’ own research projects in education and public policy. These examples help readers identify and explain policy and program impacts and better understand the "why" and "how" of observed effects. Throughout the book, the authors describe challenges that both beginners and advanced scholars are likely to encounter when doing mixed methods research and recommend practical tools available to address them.

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Patricia Burch (PhD, Stanford University) is an Associate Professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles California. Burch’s research focuses on education policy, organizational and institutional theory, qualitative and mixed methods research, and evidence based policy and practice. Burch′s recent publications include Mixed Methods Research for Policy and Program Evaluation (SAGE, 2016). Hidden Markets: The New Education Privatization, (Routledge, 2009), Equal Scrutiny: Privatization and Accountability in Digital Education (Harvard Education Press, 2015). Burch’s work has appeared in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Teachers College Record, Educational Researcher, and other notable journals. Burch regularly collaborates with government agencies and non-governmental organizations on program evaluation and in improving program design and policy effectiveness, with specific attention to equity and quality.

Carolyn J. Heinrich (PhD, University of Chicago) is the Sid Richardson professor of public affairs at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, affiliated professor of economics, and the director of the Center for Health and Social Policy at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Heinrich’s research focuses on social welfare policy, workforce development, education, econometric methods for social program evaluation, and public management and performance management. She engages in research and evaluation work to improve education and training outcomes in programs for disadvantaged youth; labor market intermediaries and labor market outcomes for low-skilled and disadvantaged workers; healthcare systems transformation and their implications for the disadvantaged; and poverty reduction programs. She regularly consults and collaborates with government agencies and nongovernmental organizations on program evaluations and in improving program and policy design and program effectiveness. In 2004, Heinrich received the David N. Kershaw Award for distinguished contributions to the field of public policy analysis and management by a person under age 40, and in 2010, she was elected to the National Academy of Public Administration. Prior to her appointment at the University of Texas in July 2011, she was the director of the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.