1. PUA 726 Policy Analysis Spring 2009 Dawn Barlow Shane Dillon Lynn Hunsinger Ted Lendis Neo Vidal Wendy Yada

2.  Policy Environment  Goals and Objectives  Research Questions  Methodology and Data Collection  Analysis  Summary  Questions and Feedback

3. Policy Environment  Political influences within the southern Nevada community  Multiple local government entities operating within a large metropolitan areas  Current local economic conditions and budget considerations

4. Project Goal The overall study is intended to conduct exploratory research on whether or not local planning departments within the southern Nevada region use policy analysis.

5. Research Question Do department heads of planning and development in local government agencies within the southern Nevada region use policy analysis?

6.  Conduct interviews with department heads of planning and development departments within local government agencies  Literature review  Internet and local government websites

7. Analysis  Exploratory, inductive research  Qualitative research  Identify common themes and trends obtained from interviews  Identify possible quantitative statistics and units of analysis at agency level

8. Summary  Determine to what extent policy analysis is used in planning and development local government.  Add to the body of research on how policy analysis is used within local governments and/or provide recommendations for further research.

9. Questions and Feedback