Assignment: Policy Outcomes

Write a five to six page paper in which you:

(Note: Refer to Chapter 6 Review Question 4 for criterion 1.)

1. Construct constitutive and operational definitions for any three (3) of the actions and outcome variables listed in the shaded box under Review Question 1 at the end of Chapter 6. (Note: The box includes Program expenditure, Equality of educational opportunity, Energy consumption, etc.)

Question 1. How is monitoring related to forecasting?

Question 2. What is the relationship between ill-structured problems and approaches to monitoring?

Question 3. What is the relationship between monitoring and the four strategies of policy analysis discussed in Chapter 1 (Figure 1.2)?

Question 4. Construct constitutive and operational definitions for any five of the following action and outcome variables:

Program expenditure Equality of educational opportunity
Personnel turnover National securiy
Health services Work incentives
Quality of life Pollution
Satisfaction with municipal services Energy consumption
Income distribution Rapport with clients

(Note: Refer to Chapter 6 Review Question 5 for criterion 2.)

2. Identify three (3) policy problems listed in the shaded box under Review Question 5 and determine an appropriate indicator or index that would help determine whether each of the identified problems are being solved through government action. Justify your position on each. (Note: The box includes Work alienation, School dropouts, Poverty, etc.)

Question 5. The following table lists several policy problems. For five of these problems, provide an indicator or index that would help determine whether these problems are being solved through government action.

Work alienation School dropouts
Crime Poverty
Energy crisis Fiscal crisis
Inflation Racial discrimination

(Note: Refer to Chapter 6 Review Question 13 for criterion 3.)

3. Construct valid rebuttals to the following argument using at least four (4) threats to validity: (B) The greater the cost of an alternative, the less likely it is that the alternative will be pursued. (W) The enforcement of the maximum speed limit of 55 mph increases the costs of exceeding the speed limit. (I) The mileage death rate fell from 4.3 to 3.6 deaths per 100 million miles after the implementation of the 55-mph speed limit. (C) The 55-mph speed limit (National Speed Law of 1973) has been definitely successful in saving lives.

4. Include at least two (2) peer-reviewed references (no more than five [5] years old) from material outside the textbook to support your views. Note: Appropriate peer-reviewed references include scholarly articles and governmental Websites. Do not use open source Websites such as Wikipedia, Sparknotes.com, Ask.com, and similar Websites are not acceptable resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the professor's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Examine the nature, characteristics, models, and / or methods pertinent to the structuring of policy problems.

• Compare and contrast approaches and / or techniques for prescribing preferred policies.