I am attending a Intro to Cities Class. What exactly is policy analysis?

Question

the professor wants us to pick a city policy and do an analysis. I am not sure of the difference between the policies enacted by city councils and the issues concerning cities can some one please tell me the difference between the two?

Answer 1

Policy analysis is the systematic evaluation of alternative means of achieving social goals. It is frequently deployed in the public sector but is equally applicable to other kinds of organizations. Most policy analysts have graduated from public policy school.

Policy analysis refers to the analysis of existing or prospective policies with the intention of improving social welfare. One common methodology is to define the problem and evaluation criteria; identify all alternatives; evaluate them; and recommend the best policy option.

Policy analysis differs from program evaluation in that it attempts to evaluate changes to policies and programs rather than evaluating their current performance. Policy analysts can come from many backgrounds including sociology, psychology, economics, geography, law, political science, public policy, social work and public administration.

Policy analysis is methodologically diverse using both qualitative methods and quantitative methods, including case studies, survey research, statistical analysis, and model building among others.