Issues of quality: what is good policy analysis and how do we know?

Relatively little research has been done on the topic of evaluating policy analytic activities. This chapter presents the results of an exploration of the issue carried out in support of policy analysis research, and based on publications from the field of policy analysis and some related fields. It appeared that a large variety exists regarding evaluation concepts and criteria. Although the establishment of a single set of generally applicable criteria is not feasible, a conceptual structure for identifying and categorizing criteria to evaluate policy analytic activities is proposed in this chapter. The elaborated structure and constructed list of criteria provides a basis from which researchers can, in individual cases, make a selection depending on the context and objectives of their research and those of the policy analytic effort being evaluated. The list of criteria provides a helping hand to evaluate and, in the end, improve policy analytic activities.