SPY00157M Exploring Policy Research Summative Assessment Brief 2026 | University of York

SPY00157M Exploring Policy Research Summative Assessment Brief 2026: Critical Comparative Review of Two Policy Research Papers

This postgraduate SPY00157M assessment asks you to choose two public or social policy research papers on the same policy problem, one a review study and one a case study, and write a 2,500-word critical comparative review. You explain the policy problem and research strategies, critique the methods, reflect on ethics, propose an alternative design and evaluate the policy recommendations.

Assessment Instructions

Select two public or social policy research papers that address the same policy issues or problems. One must be a review study (this can be the same as your formative) and the other must be a case study. Write a 2,500-word critical comparative review of your chosen policy papers: explain the policy problem(s) and the research strategies used to address them, critically discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the research method(s) in the context of the policy problems, reflect on potential ethical implications, propose a suitable alternative research design and/or method, and briefly evaluate the quality of the policy recommendations or make your own suggestions based on the findings. You can build on the formative written piece completed in week 5.

Suggested Structure (word counts are indicative)

Title page

Give the assessment a title that reflects the topic of your chosen policy research papers (for example, “A comparative review of two selected housing policy research papers”). Do not include your name, as work is marked anonymously.

Introduction (200 words)

Explain the purpose of the assignment, give full references for the two chosen papers and set out how the review is structured.

Part 1 (400 words): Policy problems, research questions and the role of research

Describe the policy problems or issues in both papers, compare how each identifies and phrases its research questions, explain the nature of those questions and discuss the role of research in policy making (Units 1 to 3).

Part 2 (700 words): Research designs and methods

Explain and compare the research designs, methods and sources of evidence in each paper, and evaluate their merits, strengths and weaknesses using relevant quality criteria in the context of the policy issue (Units 4 and 5).

Part 3 (300 words): Ethical implications

Reflexively discuss the potential ethical implications of the two studies and whether ethical reflexivity is adequately addressed (Unit 6).

Part 4 (300 words): Alternative research design

Propose and justify a suitable alternative research design and/or method for the same policy problems (Units 3 to 5).

Part 5 (400 words): Policy recommendations

Briefly evaluate and compare the quality of the policy recommendations, or suggest your own based on the findings if none are given (Unit 7).

Conclusion (200 words)

Draw a clear conclusion on the overall quality of the two research papers.

References

Use the Harvard referencing system and provide a full reference list.

Answer

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