Policy Analysis- Policy Briefs
What is a Policy Brief
How to write Policy Briefs
A policy brief is an advocacy tool used to communicate with and persuade policy makers. Policy briefs and memos are not the same things. There are some key differences between memos and briefs. The main difference is that memo is usually an internal document whereas brief is a public document which can be distributed. Another difference is that memos which are usually under 1000 words long are shorter than briefs which are 1500-1800 words long. Policy briefs are usually authored by an organization instead of an individual.
A policy brief needs to include a balance between describing an issue and providing convincing recommendations to solve the issue. The following section will explain the different elements that constitute a good policy brief.
Decision Analysis & Modeling- Hypothesis Testing
Statistics- Introduction to Hypothesis testing
Hypothesis tests are statistical tests used to infer characteristics or conditions applying to the entire population based on the analysis of sample data. In simple words, you collect data on a sample (a small subset of the population), build a hypothesis and then test it using some techniques to see if the hypothesis applies to the entire population or not.
Statistics- Null vs Alternate Hypothesis
Null hypothesis is the status quo statement and alternate hypothesis is the statement that is contrary to the null hypothesis. This might sound complicated at first but a video lesson with some examples will clarify the concepts.