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ERIC Number: ED183455
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1979-Aug
Pages: 19
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Toward A Social Policy Analysis Curriculum.
Stimson, John; Stimson, Ardyth
An eight-course curriculum in social policy analysis which follows a policy analysis paradigm is proposed. The undergraduate curriculum concentrates on the ability to appreciate and operate under uncertainty; anticipation of interrelated, unexpected ramifications of new stimuli; understanding of the social construction of problems and their cures; and methods of communication for optimum intervention. The nine-step social policy analysis paradigm includes identifying the problem and proposed cure, defining the conceptual background of the problem, considering ethical and contrasting value positions, identifying limitations of the proposed cure, and defining what will be done to whom. Also, it is necessary to isolate and anticipate confounding variables; monitor events; evaluate direct, indirect, and unanticipated impacts; and communicate results at all stages. The first two courses, Research for Policy Analysis and Forecasting Social Futures, cover anticipation and evaluation. Isolation and control of confounding variables provide the focus for course three, Implementation of Policy and four, Field Research and Social Integration. Monitoring social change is examined in the fifth course, Case Studies in Social Policy and the sixth, Social Indicators and the Quality of Life. The final two courses, Modelling and Interactive Computing and a Seminar in Policy Analysis focus on communication. A major part of the document applies the policy analysis paradigm to the proposed curriculum. (KC)
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: William Paterson Coll., Wayne, NJ.
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper prepared for presentation at Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association (Boston, MA, August 1979)