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Methods for Policy Research

What are the best methods for determining if programs, policies, or practices are effective? How do we integrate qualitative and quantitative data to deepen our understanding of social issues? This research area is rooted in the work of the Statistics for Evidence-Based Policy and Practice (STEPP) Center, which serves practitioners and policymakers by developing and promoting state-of-the-art research methods in the applied social sciences. Faculty in this area develop methods for generating strong evidence, synthesizing the results of multiple studies, and translating findings to inform policy and practice.

A Message From Larry Hedges and Elizabeth Tipton, Co-Program Chairs and STEPP Co-Directors

Larry Hedges photo
The STEPP Center provides policy researchers with the state-the-art tools they need to answer important societal questions. These include methods for generating evidence, integrating research findings from multiple studies, and translating findings for policymakers and other key audiences.
One of the STEPP Center's top priorities is bringing together students, researchers, and practitioners to collaborate and learn. Our faculty lead seminars, short courses, and workshops on methods topics like meta-analysis and program evaluation.
Beth Tipton photo

Working Papers

Recently published articles and working papers in this program area include:

David Sabin-Miller, Mary McGrath, and Marisa Eisenberg. 2026. A Political Spectrograph: High-Resolution Examinations of the United States' Political Landscape (WP-26-13).

Benjamin Jones. 2026. Artificial Intelligence in Research and Development (WP-26-09).

Charles F. Manski and John Mullahy. 2026. Utilitarian or Quantile-Welfare Evaluation of Health Policy? (WP-26-06).

All Papers

Faculty Experts

This collaborative group of interdisciplinary scholars stems from statistics, economics, education, political science, and other social science fields.

Larry V. Hedges
Larry V. Hedges
Elizabeth Tipton
Elizabeth Tipton
Jennifer Tackett
Jennifer Tackett

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News

What Does America Owe Its Citizens?

Events

There are no upcoming events at this time.

Policy Brief: Using Generalization to Improve the Accuracy of Education Studies

If research studies are not based on the right combination of people, places, and contexts, then they are not much help in supplying evidence to make good policy. How can researchers best choose the classroom, school, and school district samples to evaluate educational programs? IPR statistician Elizabeth Tipton studies how to improve research methods so that evidence is more generalizable and provides concrete help for designing accurate studies.

Download the brief