Evidence-Based Decision Making
Dates
Contact us for details
Length of Course
4 days
1:00 – 4:00 pm ET
Prerequisites
An undergraduate degree is desirable
Delivery Method
Online
Cost
$1,825 CAD
Instructors

Ann Fitz-Gerald
Director, Balsillie School of International Affairs
Course Summary
This course will help participants learn how to better make use of evidence and data to make strong and supported policy recommendations.
Building the data analysis series, this course will introduce a data analytics methodology using specific examples, then follow-up with a practical component including group work designed to solve a real-life problem that the Department is facing.
Course Sessions
- Data, its challenges and its meaningful presentation
- Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
- Strategic thinking, systems thinking, principles of analysis
- Analytical tools and techniques
- More analytical tools for data deficiencies
- Group exercise - Delphi technique
- Outputs of analysis
- Decision-making: Identifying and Evaluating options from analysis
- Tools for decision-making
- Using multi-criteria-based tools for decision-making
- Group exercise – Establishing criteria for decision-making
- More decision-making tools – Pugh model
- Transforming decisions into effective objectives
- Group exercise: Developing effective objectives
- Policy recommendations with outcomes and impact
- Understanding the relationship between policy objectives, benchmarks and policy outcomes/impact
- Group exercise – Developing impact statements and indicators
- Group exercise – Developing outcome statements and indicators
- Group exercise – Developing output statements and indicators
At the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Examine the role of data in the policy making process
- Conceptualize data analytics methodology
- Identify practical applications for using evidence to support policy making
- Design a policy recommendation based on a specific set of data provided
What Participants Say
Super informative
Participant
March 2025
“Super informative and would love to retake in a few years if I am in more of a policy/strategy role.”
Universally useful to public servants
Participant
March 2025
“I think this is universally useful to public servants engaged in strategy, policy and planning. The working groups were quite interesting! Thank you again for this training.”