The course aims at presenting and discussing main theoretical and methodological issues in public and social policy research. Participants in this course will discuss core texts on policy analysis, evidence-based policy-making, methods for policy evaluation and policy implementation (based on classical texts or recent contributions in these research areas). Building on this body of literature participants will identify and discuss policy problems, respective policy design options, and policy evaluations in selected policy areas.

Building on the study of selected theories and methodological approaches in public and social policy research, participants will

• deepen their understanding of different disciplinary approaches to investigating public and social policy,
• become proficient at using step-by-step strategies in identifying and presenting public and social policy problems
• improve their capacities in conducting research on the effectiveness and efficiency of public and social policy
• learn how to present a research project / academic paper in the field of social policy research,
• acquire the capacity to critically engage with academic material presented in written or oral ways.

You can miss a maximum of 4 hours (or two 2-hour-units) during the whole semester. Ideally you don’t miss any classes.

• lectures
• presentations & discussions
• group-work
• case-studies

Grading is based on

• active participation, feedback to other colleagues’research (10%)
• group presentation of a policy problem applying a policy analysis framework (30%)
• presentation and critical reflection of a (published) policy evaluation(30%)
• written paper & paper review (30%)

Specifics of the assignments (and expectations) depend on whether you pick this course as a Research Seminar I-IV, as " "Dissertationsrelevante Theorien und Literatur-Review" or as a course in "Theorien des Feldes".