Reframing evidence synthesis as rhetorical action in the policy making drama.
This paper presents a novel conceptualization of policy making as social drama. The selection and presentation of evidence for policy making, including the choice of which questions to ask, which evidence to compile in a synthesis and which syntheses to bring to the policy making table, should be co...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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2006
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| _version_ | 1797058050408841216 |
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| author | Greenhalgh, T Russell, J |
| author_facet | Greenhalgh, T Russell, J |
| author_sort | Greenhalgh, T |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | This paper presents a novel conceptualization of policy making as social drama. The selection and presentation of evidence for policy making, including the choice of which questions to ask, which evidence to compile in a synthesis and which syntheses to bring to the policy making table, should be considered as moves in a rhetorical argumentation game and not as the harvesting of objective facts to be fed into a logical decision-making sequence. Viewing policy making as argument does not mean it is beyond rationality--merely that we must redefine rationality to include not only logical inference and probabilistic reasoning, but also the consideration of plausibility by a reasonable audience. We need better evidence, but we also urgently need better awareness by policy makers of the language games on which their work depends. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T19:45:06Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:22054c0f-d658-415b-bdc6-0a2baac3529a |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T19:45:06Z |
| publishDate | 2006 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:22054c0f-d658-415b-bdc6-0a2baac3529a2022-03-26T11:36:30ZReframing evidence synthesis as rhetorical action in the policy making drama.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:22054c0f-d658-415b-bdc6-0a2baac3529aEnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2006Greenhalgh, TRussell, JThis paper presents a novel conceptualization of policy making as social drama. The selection and presentation of evidence for policy making, including the choice of which questions to ask, which evidence to compile in a synthesis and which syntheses to bring to the policy making table, should be considered as moves in a rhetorical argumentation game and not as the harvesting of objective facts to be fed into a logical decision-making sequence. Viewing policy making as argument does not mean it is beyond rationality--merely that we must redefine rationality to include not only logical inference and probabilistic reasoning, but also the consideration of plausibility by a reasonable audience. We need better evidence, but we also urgently need better awareness by policy makers of the language games on which their work depends. |
| spellingShingle | Greenhalgh, T Russell, J Reframing evidence synthesis as rhetorical action in the policy making drama. |
| title | Reframing evidence synthesis as rhetorical action in the policy making drama. |
| title_full | Reframing evidence synthesis as rhetorical action in the policy making drama. |
| title_fullStr | Reframing evidence synthesis as rhetorical action in the policy making drama. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reframing evidence synthesis as rhetorical action in the policy making drama. |
| title_short | Reframing evidence synthesis as rhetorical action in the policy making drama. |
| title_sort | reframing evidence synthesis as rhetorical action in the policy making drama |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT greenhalght reframingevidencesynthesisasrhetoricalactioninthepolicymakingdrama AT russellj reframingevidencesynthesisasrhetoricalactioninthepolicymakingdrama |