PP4V8      Half Unit
Policy Paper

This information is for the 2025/26 session.

Course Convenor

Availability

Requisites

Mutually exclusive courses:

This course cannot be taken with PP4B4 at any time on the same degree programme.

The aim of the course is to enable students to plan, design and conduct independent research in an area of public policy. Students will write an individually-authored policy paper of no more than 6,000 words on a topic developed in consultation with their supervisor.  The policy paper will carry out an evidence-based assessment of a concrete policy issue or problem in a specific setting and provide a practical contribution to policy and practice.  The main body of the policy paper will describe and justify the student's methodology, highlight the most important results of the analysis, and make policy recommendations based on these findings.  While students may wish to incorporate quantitative data in their papers, qualitative approaches are also acceptable.  Whatever approach they take, all policy paper writers are expected to draw on the relevant scholarly literature - primary and/or secondary - and all papers must include an Executive Summary. 

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn and Winter Term.

This course is delivered through help sessions totalling a minimum of 6 hours in Autumn Term and 6 hours in Winter Term. 

These sessions will provide academic and practical guidance on the planning and writing of the student's policy paper and offer opportunities to try out ideas and gather feedback.  The student's supervisor will also be available to offer advice and guidance alongside these sessions.

A 750-word policy paper proposal will be submitted in the Autumn Term.  The proposal will suggest a title for the paper, identify the student's research question, provide an abstract, and (briefly) discuss the rationale for the research and the feasibility of the project.  Students will also explain their research design and method(s), identify potential sources, and describe how their papers are likely to be structured.  Policy paper writers will receive feedback on their proposal, at which point they can no longer change their topic except with the explicit agreement of their supervisor.

• Stella Cottrell, Dissertations and Project Reports: A Step by Step Guide (Palgrave Study Skills, 2014);
• William Dunn, Public Policy Analysis: An Integrated Approach (Routledge, 2018);
• Catherine Smith, Writing Public Policy: A Practical Guide to Communicating in the Policymaking Process (Oxford University Press, 2023)

Policy paper / report (100%, 6000 words)

The final policy paper will be submitted early in Spring Term.