Title
Session 8 - Qual + quant = ? Integrating the social with the technical in a regulatory evidence base
Location
University of Nevada Las Vegas, Stan Fulton Building
Start Date
2-6-2007 8:50 AM
End Date
2-6-2007 9:00 AM
Description
The question of what constitutes “evidence” in evidence-based decision-making is a growing area of scholarly debate. Even in the social sciences--where qualitative methods are common currency-- it is possible to find scholars who will assert the value of a nuanced, contextual account while at the same time suggesting it is a ‘less valid’ form of evidence than quantified, scientific data. Nonetheless, the value of qualitative, socially-situated evidence is appreciated in powerful circles: witness the growing demand for public input into evidence-based regulatory decision-making, especially in contested areas of science and technology. In this paper, I present the early stages of a project to broaden a specific regulatory evidence base. I briefly outline the academic literature informing this project, with reference to some ‘best practice’ examples of how this tension has been negotiated internationally in risk regulation regimes. Then, referring to my participant-observation at Canada’s Health Products and Food Branch, I describe this project’s strategy in addressing the challenges of establishing a hybrid socio-technical model of evidence within existing institutional practices reliant on quantitative measures of risk.
Keywords
Administrative agencies; Canada; Decision making; Delegated legislation; Evidence; Evidence-based decision-making; Research--Methodology; Qualitative evidence; Qualitative research; Quantitative evidence; Quantitative research
Disciplines
Policy History, Theory, and Methods | Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration
Language
English
Permissions
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COinS
Session 8 - Qual + quant = ? Integrating the social with the technical in a regulatory evidence base
University of Nevada Las Vegas, Stan Fulton Building
The question of what constitutes “evidence” in evidence-based decision-making is a growing area of scholarly debate. Even in the social sciences--where qualitative methods are common currency-- it is possible to find scholars who will assert the value of a nuanced, contextual account while at the same time suggesting it is a ‘less valid’ form of evidence than quantified, scientific data. Nonetheless, the value of qualitative, socially-situated evidence is appreciated in powerful circles: witness the growing demand for public input into evidence-based regulatory decision-making, especially in contested areas of science and technology. In this paper, I present the early stages of a project to broaden a specific regulatory evidence base. I briefly outline the academic literature informing this project, with reference to some ‘best practice’ examples of how this tension has been negotiated internationally in risk regulation regimes. Then, referring to my participant-observation at Canada’s Health Products and Food Branch, I describe this project’s strategy in addressing the challenges of establishing a hybrid socio-technical model of evidence within existing institutional practices reliant on quantitative measures of risk.