1. “Opening the Doors of Policy-Making: Central Asia and South Caucasus” (UDF- GLO-09-281) Skills Development Training for CSOs Istanbul, June 2-3, 2011 General Policy Research Training: Policy Researcher’s Agenda and Introduction to Policy Research Methods This presentation has been produced with the assistance of the United Nations Democracy Fund. The content of this presentation is the sole responsibility of Maria Golubeva and does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations, the United Nations Democracy Fund or its Advisory Board".

2. Plan of the session Policy Researcher’s Agenda (What makes policy research important to us and to others?) Starting with Policy Research: 1. the connection to policy cycle; 2. the research question and research design

3. Policy research in the wide world/ And in your country Social reality Policy Social research Policy research Policy analysis Stakeholders Policy makers International organisations/ Donors We

4. The big question What is our agenda in policy research/ analysis? (i.e. what do we want to change) Why does it matter?

5. The three roles of policy analyst according to Weimer & Vining ‘Technician’ ‘Client-oriented’ ‘Value-oriented’ What are the limits to the technician’s neutrality? What are the limits to client loyalty? What are the limits to value-driven policy analysis?

6. What is the utimate test for policy research conclusions and recommendations? Objective? Relevant? Related to public interest?

7. Reality check from Professor Severus Snape “At the end of this lesson we will feed a few drops of this potion to your toad and see what happens. Perhaps that will encourage you to do it properly.”

8. My “toad”: Who is out there, and why should I care? Meet Stakeholders! A stakeholder is any person or organisation, who can be positively or negatively impacted by, or cause an impact on the actions of a government, company or organisation. Primary stakeholders: those ultimately affected Secondary stakeholders: the ‘intermediaries’, that is, persons or organisations who are indirectly affected by planned/ implemented actions. Key stakeholders : (who can also belong to the first two groups) have significant influence upon or importance within a policy setting.

9. Practical task Nr 1 Choose 2-3 main points for a policy brief based on your hypothetical assessment of the situation described in the text. Group 1: Policy analysts employed by the MOE of Kazakhstan Group 2: World Bank economists Group 3: Minority Rights Group

10. What was the use of this little exercise?

11. Starting with Policy Research: Where do we fit it in the policy cycle?

12. Practical task Nr 2 Which stages of the policy cycle in your country are the ones when it is (relatively) easy to supply independent research results to your government partners and/or to the public? Which stages are the ones when it is most difficult to supply independent research results to your government partners and/or to the public?

13. Research question Finding a research question is not the same as identifying a policy problem (E.g. you may know what the problem is, but you still need research in order to tackle it) Child labour in areas affected by cross-border migration Corruption in municipalities affected by drug trafficking Teacher education producing badly qualified teachers

14. Thank you for your attention! Maria Golubeva, PhD maria@rigahistory.lv