Evidence in Public Policy
Do you want to see a world better led, better served and better governed?
Now more than ever, it’s imperative that governments and public bodies worldwide use objective evidence to inform policy decisions. This online course will teach you to put the science of evaluating policy into practice – ensuring that the policy you are involved in is built on solid foundations.
Evidence in Public Policy is certified by CPD UK’s (Continuing Professional Development) Certification Service.
Find out how you could complement the skills built on this course with those developed on another. Discover our government and public policy multi-course pathway and discounts.
- Type: Online short course
- Length: 8 weeks (3-5 hours of study per week recommended)
- Upcoming intakes: October 2023
- Next start date: 7 October 2023 (deadline 12pm (UK) on 6 October)
- Fees: £1740 (inclusive of VAT)*
- Award: Certificate of completion
*Discounts are available to alumni, those working in the public sector and certain geographical regions. Register your interest to learn more.
Requirements
This distance learning course is designed for those who need to be able to evaluate the impact of policies. You should consider this course if:
- you are an early-to-mid-career civil servant who wants to know more about the benefits of, and how to apply, statistics as evidence when evaluating the impact of policy in your community, region or country;
- you are a civil servant looking to specialise in evidence and statistics;
- you are an experienced professional in an NGO (Non-Governmental Organisations) or international organisation who aspires to better decision-making in government and public policy;
- you are running for public office or are already in office anywhere in the world; this course could help the development of your public policy planning.
There are no specific entry requirements for this course. However, please be aware that it is a master’s level course, so will take a certain level of commitment. Learners are expected to dedicate 3-5 hours a week to their studies, with all activities and tasks taking place online.
Modules
You will study eight modules over the course of eight weeks. It is a collaborative learning process, week-by-week, so you will have ample opportunity to discuss key policy topics with your peers and a course Facilitator.
Activities will include set readings, reflection exercises, multiple-choice questions and discussion forums. Your Facilitator will guide you through these activities and provide feedback at each stage. Not all tasks will be graded but you will need to participate in each to successfully complete the course and qualify for your certificate.
The final assessment, completed in module eight, will be your main summative assignment. It will be marked by your Facilitator and will be worth 50% of your final grade.
- Module 0: Course welcome and narrative
- Module 1: Introduction and key concepts
- Module 2: Causality and randomised control trials
- Module 3: Causality without randomised control trials
- Module 4: Wrapping up the methods
- Module 5: Aggregating and finding evidence
- Module 6: External validity and applicability of evidence
- Module 7: Practicalities: designing monitoring systems and impact evaluations
- Module 8: Submission of assignment
Faculty
Your learning material is provided by our expert faculty. Learn more about Professor Martin Williams and Professor Julien Labonne.
Learning experience
In addition to learning from our world-leading academics, you will also benefit from a course Facilitator. Coming from a public policy background, they will provide support throughout your learning journey, be present during weekly discussions and offer guidance and feedback on tasks and assessments.
This online course will bring theory to life, using practical examples and activities that you can apply to your own role. These may include a combination of:
- interactive simulations;
- knowledge checks;
- case studies;
- discussion forums;
- practical exercises.
We’ve welcomed students from various backgrounds and all over the world onto our Evidence in Public Policy course. Find out more about some of their experiences learning with us.
Course outcomes
Throughout this course, you will learn how to use evidence to both develop new policies and evaluate the impact(s) of existing ones, ensuring that the policymaking you are involved in is solid and reliable. You will also receive a certificate to support your career progression. See our full learning outcomes section for more detailed information.
This programme is also certified by CPD UK. Learners will be able to request their CPD certificate after successfully finishing the course, using their certificate of completion as proof of eligibility. The course has an estimated 40 hours of learning, equating to 40 CPD points.
Note, the onus is on students to request these CPD certificates at the end of their studies. The University and its partners accept no responsibility, and cannot be held responsible, for the claiming or validation of hours or points.
Live sessions with course experts
During the programme, you will have the opportunity to attend live sessions with your Facilitator and fellow students. All sessions are optional. If you cannot attend, you will have full access to recordings after each one.
Week one: welcome and introductions
This session is a chance to meet your Facilitator and introduce yourself to your peers. The Facilitator will give you an overview of the course, and you will have the chance to ask any questions and to have an open discussion with other learners.
Week five: Q&A and final assessment preparation
At this stage in the course, it is a good time to hear reflections and general feedback from your Facilitator on any common misunderstanding or themes identified in the discussions and assessments. You will be able to ask your questions and engage in an open discussion with your peers. There is also the opportunity to look ahead and receive feedforward before your final assessment.
Fees and funding
The total cost of this short course is £1,740 (inclusive of VAT), with discounts available to Oxford University alumni, those working in a public sector role (evidence is required) and those who choose to study more than one of our online courses (our multi-course pathway).
It is possible to pay your fees in two instalments, laying down a deposit (and reserving a space) before settling the final balance and securing your place on the course ahead of its start.
For more information about our deposit scheme or discounts you may be entitled to, please feel free to email us or book a time for our team to give you a call.
Considering asking your employer to fund your studies? Read our blog on the best way to approach them for sponsorship.
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*Discounts available to alumni and those working in the public sector. Evidence required.
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The total cost of the course is £1,740 (inclusive of VAT). However, students in your region can benefit from a £640 discount on the full price – simply use the code BSGFEESUPPORT at checkout to benefit.
It is possible to pay your fees in two instalments, laying down a deposit (and reserving a space) before settling the final balance and securing your place on the course ahead of its start.
We also offer discounts to learners who enrol on more than one of our courses. Find out more about our multi-course pathway and discounts.
For more information about our deposit scheme or further discounts you may be entitled to, please feel free to email us or book a time for our team to give you a call.
Considering asking your employer to fund your studies? Read our blog on the best way to approach them for sponsorship.
*Students in your region are eligible for financial support. At check out, use the code BSGFEESUPPORT to receive £640 off and pay £1100.**
About the course
Our Evidence in Public Policy online programme is an intensive eight-week course that will teach you how successful evidence based policy is implemented and evaluated. It will give you the unique opportunity to hone the critical skills needed to design and implement policies informed by facts rather than opinion or instinct.
Upon successful completion of the course, you will be able to evaluate the impact and implementation of policies within the context of your own role, an ability which will have immediate benefits to your career.
Watch the one-minute video below for an overview of the course.
Course outcomes
Throughout this course, you will learn:
- how to use evidence to evaluate the impact(s) of policy;
- how to apply evidence to policy decisions;
- how policymakers gather and generate evidence in practice;
- about the demand for evidence-based policy evaluation and why it should be a greater priority in public policy organisations, globally.
Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certificate that will support your career progression and enhance your resume. You will have developed practical skills and solutions that you can take into your workplace, where they will have an immediate impact on your organisation. This programme is also certified by CPD UK.
“Doing an impact evaluation was the most useful and exciting part of the course – it served as the compendium of all the things that we had learned. The weekly interactions and forums between the cohort, who are all specialists or experts in their areas of works, provided deeper value and understanding of the public policy sphere and decision-making in different contexts and situations.”
Kenny, Evidence in Public Policy course graduate
“The course provides an excellent opportunity for professionals with an interest in public policy in the public, non-profit and private sectors to develop an in depth understanding of what constitutes strong evidence and how to pilot and implement policies making use of successful and unsuccessful evidence.”
May, Evidence in Public Policy course graduate
“This course has opened a door in public policy and provided the key concepts needed for follow up.”
Ruba, Evidence in Public Policy course graduate
“The course was wonderful, and the modules on the theory of change I shared with my colleagues in social services.”
Kelly, Evidence in Public Policy course graduate
“I loved how the course illustrated that using intuition in policies isn’t pragmatic and showed us the road to becoming a critical evidence consumer to create robust policies.”
Eslam, Evidence in Public Policy course graduate
“The course has provided me with a thorough and deeper understanding of how to evaluate policy, thereby giving me more confidence in undertaking consultancy assignments of this nature. We are a niche consultancy, operating in the public sector… The course has strengthened our firm’s service offering in terms of public sector assignments which evaluate the effectiveness of government policies.”
Roni, Evidence in Public Policy course graduate
“This Evidence in Public Policy course has been a truly invaluable learning experience for me. The academics introduced us to policy analysis, governance and related research, and I discovered how policymakers design, implement, analyse and evaluate policy. I learned so much from the input and guidance I received during every lesson.”
Pongpit, Evidence in Public Policy course graduate
“I particularly enjoyed Week 5 – Aggregating and Finding Evidence. This is because the reviewing and reporting exercise was a really helpful tool for translating the learning which had been delivered over the previous weeks into a practical example of how this would be used in my actual job. Being able to critically evaluate a piece of analysis in that way was incredibly applicable and will be a helpful piece of learning to take away into my own team.”
Melieha, Evidence in Public Policy course graduate
“I have learnt a lot during my participation, from doing the weekly readings but also reading and commenting on the online discussions with other students who are experts in multiple policy fields. This course is an excellent investment for strengthening your understanding, knowledge and practice in public policy.”
May, Evidence in Public Policy course graduate
“The final project provided a great opportunity to apply the theory taught during the course. In particular, it allowed me to test my understanding of some of the methods and concepts that I was less familiar with in a context/policy setting I was not used to working within.”
Evidence in Public Policy course graduate
“This course will enable me to more effectively advise on whether policies will work in Scotland by providing me with the tools to critically assess evidence and draw conclusions on the external validity of evaluations. More broadly, this will support my applications to future roles with a policy development focus, as it will demonstrate that I have the knowledge to apply to designing evaluations.”
Melieha, Evidence in Public Policy course graduate
“Policy that is not evidence based should not happen, especially when it comes to the long term international (and often high value) overseas projects my organisation implements on behalf of governments. We need to know what works and it needs to be context specific in a lot of cases.”
Evidence in Public Policy course graduate
“I found the support in this course to be very helpful and encouraging, which was important for me since I was not well-versed in the more technical aspects of research and collation or analysis of data.”
Robert, Evidence in Public Policy course graduate
“The discussions with other participants were very useful.”
Faith, Evidence in Public Policy course graduate
Modules
Introduce yourself to your fellow cohort and meet the Facilitator, who will be providing support to you throughout the duration of the course.
Learn more about what the course offers and how to navigate through it. Tell us more about yourself by answering the questions and posting to the Padlet discussion board.
Your first module will focus on the introduction of fundamental questions, such as:
- What is evidence?
- What is policy?
- How is evidence used in public policy?
- Why is evidence important for effective policy-making?
Take an Intuition Quiz and your first set of Knowledge Check questions, which you’ll perform weekly throughout the course to ensure you’re on track with your learning targets. Join discussions specific to your interests with peers and the Facilitator. Collaborate with your peers on a template exercise.
This module will focus on causality and counterfactuals. You will:
- define counterfactuals;
- discuss the fundamental problem of evaluation;
- calculate a treatment effect in practice;
- establish countermeasures via group discussions.
Take your weekly Knowledge Check. You will also participate in two peer-to-peer discussions with Facilitator input.
During discussion sessions and peer activities, you will explore:
- difference-in-differences (DiD): the basics;
- difference-in-differences (DiD): checking the assumptions;
- regression discontinuity design (RDD): the basics.
Submit your Knowledge Check responses. Continue in-depth discussions with your peers and the Facilitator.
Through an example scenario, you will discuss:
- average effects and subgroup analysis;
- how to determine sample sizes;
- measurement.
Submit Knowledge Check responses. Respond to a relevant journal article, your response will be peer-reviewed.
Throughout this module, you will take part in group activities and exercises using an example scenario. You will discuss:
- research credibility;
- systematic reviews;
- meta-analysis;
- finding evidence.
Submit your Knowledge Check responses. Use an online tool to conduct meta-analysis and find evidence online. The Facilitator will comment on your findings.
You will take part in discussion sessions and perform a template activity to learn:
- external validity;
- ways to deal with external validity: aggregation, sub-group analysis, and comparing contexts;
- mechanism mapping;
- fidelity vs adaptation.
Submit your Knowledge Check responses. This week you will be part of a template activity, receiving feedback from your peers and the Facilitator.
In this module, you will have faculty sessions and in-depth discussions with your cohort regarding:
- organising and running an impact evaluation;
- ethics.
Continue in-depth discussions with your peers and the Facilitator.
This is your final session. Submission of your individual project is expected. Your project will be marked by peers and the Facilitator will agree on the rubric and timescales for assessment results.
You will submit your final project, collated from work you will submit between modules three and seven, to be reviewed by the Facilitator. In this last week, you will be part of a final peer and Facilitator discussion board. You will also be given the opportunity to share your thoughts on the course with faculty via a discussion board.
Faculty
Martin Williams
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
Martin Williams teaches and conducts research on the roles of evidence, context and external validity in policymaking. His research is on policy implementation, public service delivery and bureaucratic reform, mostly in low- and middle-income countries.
Prior to joining Oxford University, Martin was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Economics, University College London, and completed his PhD in the Government Department at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Julien Labonne
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC POLICY
Julien Labonne‘s research focuses on issues of clientelism, electoral politics and social networks. He carries out field experiments, designs household surveys and uses large-scale datasets to test models of voter and politician behaviour in developing countries.
Prior to joining the Blavatnik School, Julien was an Assistant Professor of Social Sciences (Economics) at Yale-NUS College in Singapore, and completed his PhD in the Economics Department at the University of Oxford. Julien previously worked at the World Bank and has consulted for the Asia Foundation, the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the OECD.
Frequently asked questions
Evidence based policymaking is policy development that consults facts and evidence to make decisions, over political opinion or theory. To learn more, read our guide to evidence based policymaking.
To create an evidence based policy, you might support your arguments by using existing evidence or conducting new research. To learn more, read our guide to evidence based policymaking.
The Evidence in Public Policy online short course is designed for those who need to be able to evaluate the impact of policies. You might have this responsibility as an early-to-mid career civil servant, an experienced professional in an NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) or international organisation, a political candidate running for office or a political leader already in office anywhere in the world.
The Evidence in Public Policy online short course takes eight weeks to complete, with 3-5 hours of study time expected per week.
There are no specific entry requirements for this course. However, please be aware that it is a master’s level course, so will take a certain level of commitment. Tasks and activities must be completed in order to successfully complete the course and gain a certificate.
Student Stories
Melieha Long
Robert Dominic C. Echiverri
Dr Roni Ajao
Visit the Student Stories page to read more of our graduate testimonials.
Interested in learning more? Complete the form and a member of our team will be in touch. We’ll also send you email updates and remind you of key dates.
Find out more
**Applies to countries in Africa, Brazil, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Peru, Columbia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Jordan, Egypt
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