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- Joeanne, girl this Caribbean region has a lot of issues. If it’s not crime, it’s poverty, if it’s not politicking, it’s politricks, and even killing of presidents. It’s one issue to the next. Do you know any more?
- Well yes boy, there is HIV, limited access to quality education, and crime.
- I think we need some policies to deal with these issues.
- Could we call those social policies?
- But, what is that?
- Social policy is a plan or series of actions on the part of a government that seeks to shape and influence the living conditions of the population of a country in ways that lead to improvements in human welfare.
- Social policy is concerned with the way societies across the world meet human needs for security, education, health and wellbeing (Platt n.d.).
- I know you read Unit 7, what was the first key point that you gleaned?
- Poverty, yes poverty. Imagine there are types of poverty.
- Hummm, please share a definition and those types of poverty.
- Absolute poverty refers to a standard below which the household could not survive in a healthy or satisfying way. Once a country decides on a basic minimum acceptable standard of living, anyone falling below that standard would be considered poor in an absolute sense.
- There is also Relative poverty is based on the idea of inequities between various groups. So poverty is determined by the standard of living of a particular group, compared with the standard of living of the rest of society. Basic needs are met but these persons are worse off than the non-poor.
- WOW!! Poverty in the Caribbean is a serious thing. But help me understand it some more, Joeanne.
- There have been a series of poverty assessments in the Caribbean over the past 10 years using household surveys. This has been done mostly by the Caribbean Development Bank. However assessment in Jamaica was done by the Government with some assistance from the World Bank. Trinidad has also conducted poverty studies with the assistance of the Inter-American Development Bank.
- Poverty levels can be determined by:· The amount (or income) that is deemed adequate to obtain necessary goods and services.· Examination of people’s possessions (or consumption) to determine whether they had these necessaries (Johnson 2004).
- Two levels of poverty in the Caribbean:· Poverty line is the amount of expenditure (or income) necessary to purchase the minimum nutritional and other fundamental requirements of living.· Indigence line the cost of the minimum food requirements necessary for existence or survival. Below this level, the members of the household are threatened with ill-health and even death.
- But I am sure that poverty brings some additional social issues. What are they?
- Additional social issues arising out of poverty:· Juvenile Delinquency: defined by the Rand Corporation, (2020, p.1) “negative behaviors of children and teens that may result in crimes or legal action—frequently causes widespread problems in communities.” In the Caribbean, it continued to be a problem over the past decades. We currently face issues related to teen pregnancy, substance abuse, human trafficking and a host of seeming insurmountable problems.
- Human Trafficking: a “process through which individuals are placed or maintained in an exploitative situation for economic gain” (United Nations Human Rights, 2014, p. 1). Trafficking takes place with men, women and children, although it is predominantly women and children who are exploited. This exploitation takes the form of forced labour. However in most cases sexual exploitation, forced marriage and deviant behaviours are the main activities Prostitution and drug trafficking are all tied into poverty and its various issues.
- I know you could tell me more about poverty because of the magnitude of it but tell me what was another key point from Unit 7.
- The Education System.Education has always been seen as a vehicle for social and economic mobility across the Caribbean. As a result, widening access to education up to the secondary level has been one of the central development priorities of almost all territories since the first island attained independence in 1962. To support this goal, almost all Caribbean countries provide free education up to the secondary level.
- Education encompasses 3 key areas: Enrolment: the level of access to education is measured by the level of enrolment at each level of the system. Two common measures used are; a) the Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) which is expressed as the number of children, regardless of age, enrolled at a particular level, as a percentage of the total number of children in the relevant age range; b)Net Enrolment Rate (NER) is the number of children of official school age (as defined by the national education system) who are enrolled at a particular level of education expressed as a percentage of the total population of children of the official school age.
- 2) Educational performance is a complex matter. Research shows that there is no one definitive factor that influences student performance in school. Rather performance is determined by the coming together of several factors such as socioeconomic background and development.3) High quality teachers improve students’ outcome. The 2007 McKinsey and Company review of the best performing education systems in the world noted that “an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers”.
- Well Kern, let me ask you a question, suppose the government wants to find solutions for these issues, what advice would you give the government?
- I will advise them to conduct thorough evidence based research into these issues.
- You see, there is research and there is evidence based research. Some researches are flawed by unclear objectives, poor research designs, methodological weaknesses, inadequate statistical reporting and analysis, selective use of data, and conclusions that are not supported by the data provided. But Evidence-based policy requires a more systematic approach to searching for appropriate evidence, the critical appraisal of studies that are identified, and a balanced understanding of what the research evidence is saying and of its strengths and weaknesses (Davies, 2004).
- The evidence used in policy and programme planning can come from a variety of sources. The research methods used to gather the necessary data can be quantitative and/or qualitative. The evidence can be used as input for the design and implementation of new policy initiatives, or they can be used for monitoring and evaluation in order to modify, revise and measure the progress of existing initiatives.
- But are there other methods we could use to conduct research?
- Oh yes they are!!! Let me list four methods for you. 1. Single studies2. Systematic monitoring3. Pilot studies4. Expert evidence
- Great Great!! Please give me a brief explanation about each.
- Single studies are very often used to support government policy and practice. These are often studies that are conducted specifically in response to a particular concern or issue. Single studies are particularly effective when there is no need for on-going data collection on a particular issue. These studies are done on an ‘as-needed’ basis to respond to an immediate demand. Such studies are also very useful when policy makers need to evaluate the impact of a programme or policy.
- Systematic Monitoring: Evidence can also be collected from systematic reviews of a key social issue. Systematic monitoring is used here to refer to data which is collected almost routinely and with some established regularity.These systematic monitoring mechanisms provide invaluable data to the development planning process in the region as they provide information which has been collected over an extended period of time, allowing policy makers to track changes in the area over time. This is a clear advantage over single studies which give information for one particular period of time.
- Tell me about the 3rd one Kern.
- Pilot Studies are small scale experiments, the sole purpose of which is to decide whether to launch a large scale version of the same programme, policy or project. Essentially, pilot studies are trial runs. A pilot study can reveal deficiencies in the design of a proposed programme or procedure and these can then be addressed before time and resources are expended on large scale implementation. And finally, Do you remember the fourth method?
- Yes I do! It is Expert opinion. You are the expert on this so continue.
- Expert opinion is commonly used to support government policy and practice, either in the form of expert advisory groups or special advisers. Using experts as a basis for policy making and practice, however, again raises the problems of selectivity of knowledge and expertise. When depending on expert knowledge or opinion, governments have to be careful in ensuring that the expertise being provided is up to date and well-grounded in the most recent research evidence. This mechanism is frequently used in the Caribbean. It is best used in conjunction with other methods.
- Well, I am really loving this. So far we have highlighted four key points in Unit 7. Do you have one more, just one more, pleaseeee.
- A policy cycle and programme cycle are very similar to each other. Policies tend to be larger and overarching, and can be defined as a “set of decisions which are oriented towards a long-term purpose or to a particular problem” (FAO.org, 2015, p. 3). Programmes are a little more short-term in nature than policies. For example, a government may have a policy on improving living conditions, or a policy on disaster risk reduction. These policies may be implemented through programmes. Programme implementation helps to achieve policy goals.
- When I hear about policy cycle, my mind creates a circle, like a wheel.
- Smart girl!! Let me show you something;
- Now this cycle, or a wheel as you call it, has these four stages which are used as a logical sequence of actions to achieve the goal and objectives of any planned set of activities. It is a very useful management tool in which to apply research to decision-making in the development and execution of policies and programmes.
- Problem Identification This is the stage at which the problem or issue is recognized and ideas for solving the problem are raised, examined and shortlisted.
- FormulationAt this stage, the initial ideas are developed in greater detail. In other words, what you are doing here is using the data obtained from the problem identification phase to outline a detailed plan or blue print for achieving your objectives.
- Implementation Once the approvals and funding are in place, implementation involves execution of all plans and activities, including the mobilization of the relevant stakeholders. One important aspect of implementation of policies and programmes is the need to ensure high levels of awareness on the part of stakeholders in order to ensure participation and cooperation of major stakeholders to achieve the policy and programme objectives.
- Monitoring and EvaluationRegular monitoring is important in order to ensure that the intended objectives are being achieved. Monitoring also allows the researcher or policy maker to revise and modify activities where necessary to achieve intended goals and take account of unintended consequences. Evaluation is usually done at the end of the project. It may also be conducted in the middle of the project. The purpose of evaluation is to measure impact in the medium and long term. It allows policy makers to ascertain whether the programme design and goal were appropriate. It also allows for feedback on how to move forward in the future.
- Well Kern, that was a mouth full but thanks very much for the explanation.
- But before we end this discussion, there are some challenges that governments, agencies or persons will encounter with the concepts laid out while they do research.
- Yes, there are. Let’s discuss them. Choosing the right methodology. Determine what kind of design and methodology can best answer your research questions. If your questions include words such as “explore,” “understand,” and “generate,” it’s an indication that your study is qualitative. Whereas words such as “compare,” “relate,” or “correlate” indicate a quantitative study. The design comes out of the study, rather than being imposed on the study (Crawford L. 2010).
- Tight timetables and schedules of the policy making process make it impossible to collect relevant information through research before rolling out a policy, programme or project.
- Using findings out of contextResearch produced in other countries should also be treated cautiously as such research is not always transferable.
- Governments have to be careful in ensuring that the expertise being provided is up to date and well-grounded in the most recent research evidence.
- Data may not be reliable.· Survey research only makes sense if people honestly report their beliefs and preferences because people are free to misrepresent themselves.
- That's all follks. On behalf of Joeanne and myself, thank you for listening.
- Bye!!
- REFERENCES Chen J. (2020). Povertyhttps://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/poverty.aspCrawford L. (2010). 7 Research Challenges (And how to overcome them). https://www.waldenu.edu/news-and-events/publications/articles/2010/01-research-challenges Platt L. (n.d.). What is social policy? International, interdisciplinary and applied.https://www.lse.ac.uk/social-policy/about-us/What-is-social-policy
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