Week 3 Discussion 1 "Policy-Making Process" Please respond to the following: Take a position in support of one of the two statements: (a) Policy analysts should research the issues and determine the fundamental causes of social problems such as crime, p

Week 3 Discussion 1

"Policy-Making Process" Please respond to the following:

Take a position in support of one of the two statements:

(a) Policy analysts should research the issues and determine the fundamental causes of social problems such as crime, poverty, or homelessness and then recommend solutions.

(b) Policy analysts should develop implementable policies to address social problems such as crime, poverty, or homelessness without research to determine the cause(s). Support your position with examples or evidence.

After the examination of the two statements, I can categorically state that the I am in support of the statement (a) Policy analysts should research the issues and determine the fundamental causes of social problems such as crime, poverty, or homelessness and then recommend solutions. This is because establishing an efficient and productive solution to any social issues including crime rates, homelessness, and poverty; it is necessary to identify the various cause of such problems. One should ask him/herself if it is essential to implement a process or a strategy which are uncertain to happen. Thus, there is need to invest in various resources into a process which is likely to fail because of the lack of information concerning the contributing factors of these social issues. For instance, it would be necessary to determine whether people are homeless because it is their choice or if these people are given an opportunity will be able to make something of them. Typically, policy analysts tend to classify the current or imminent issues, develop solutions as well as assess the proposed solutions to these challenges. Once the problem is identified, the investigator might seek to determine some of its major causes. Moreover, they might then research how the different policies, ideas as well as proposals could influence the problem while suggesting the various solutions (Blanchard, Spring 2007 ).

Dunn (2012) asserts that Policy analysis is relatively eloquent and comprehensive. It usually relies on the traditional social science disciplines in describing as well as explaining the causes along with the impacts of these policies. To productively investigate any given social problem, policy analysis draws on the normative economics along with decision analysis as well as ethics and another branch of social and political philosophy.

Week 3 Discussion 2

"Analysis in Practice" Please respond to the following:

· From the e-Activity, provide two reasons and / or examples of what makes the paper or report you selected of high technical quality. Provide the source(s) of the article you selected.

One major reason why the chosen article is of high quality is that the author is a reputable writer and researcher in various fields and the article has also been peer-reviewed by other authors who are experienced in the same discipline. Secondly, the study can easily be quality evaluated with the various information provided concerning the student's perceptions or voices on the higher education.

· From the e-Activity, provide two examples from the same article that illustrate how the analysis changes the status quo.

Multiple researches, as well as experiences, shows that there are essential junctures which exist along the pathway to the society college completion where various students seek to lose the momentum and lead to their drop out from school. Maintaining the voices of the students as well as their experiences at the center of the plans for the reforms can promote the legitimacy of the projected and proposed reforms, their productivity as well as their sustainability.

References

Dunn, W. N. (2012). In Public Policy Analysis, (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Rizzolo, A. (2011 ). Students Voices on the Higher Education Pathway: Student Voices on Community College Completion. Retrieved January 27, 2013, from Public Agenda: http://www.publicagenda.org/pages/student-voices-higher-education-pathway

Blanchard, S. (Spring 2007). Occupational Outlook Quarterly 2. Retrieved January 27, 2013,

from Policy analysts: Shaping society through research and problem-solving:

http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2007/spring/art03.pdf