Table 1 Outline of question types: style, outcome orientation, and use orientation.
From: Understanding UK policymakers’ evidence needs through policy questions
Question type | Category | Abstract specification/concept explanation | Example | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Style | Super-ordinate | Sub-ordinate | ||
Bounded answers | Verification | Is it the case that X is here? Did X event occur? Are Xs more inclined towards y? Is X a viable version of Y? | Do groups generally make better decisions than individuals? What are the justifications for using groups to make decisions? | |
Comparison | What are the strengths and weaknesses of X? What are the costs and benefits of implementing X? | What are the costs and benefits of decision-making through groups over individuals? | ||
Forecasting | Which areas would you foresee improving in the next 10 years? How likely is it that X will be popular in the future? | How will group decision-making shape action in the next 10 years? | ||
Unbounded answers | Example/ Explanation | Which X is more like Y? What would be a case where Y is like X? How does X work? | Can you illustrate situations where groups make better decisions? How does group decision-making work? | |
Causal analysis | What are the barriers that will prevent X from occurring? What are the effects of X if it is implemented now? | What happens if groups end up making the wrong decisions? What brings about the need to use groups in situations of adversity? | ||
Procedural | How can we use X to make Y better? What would need to be incorporated to ensure that X is produced? In what way can we measure X so that it can later be used to support y? | What strategies can organization X implement for group decision-making to occur? What are the methods and strategies by which individuals can be encouraged to work in groups? | ||
Asserting value judgments | How should the infrastructure available be used to produce x? How should X respond to y? | Why do you think groups are the best way to make decisions? | ||
Outcome orientation | Preventative perspective | Seeks answers regarding how to prevent negatively valanced phenomena. | What actions should the UK take to mitigate climate disasters in the global south? | |
Generative perspective | Seeks answers regarding how to bring about positively valanced phenomena. | How can we strengthen local implementation of sustainability goals and empower local communities to make more sustainable choices? | ||
Use orientation | Informing-policy perspective | Concerns the search for evidence to inform a specific policy topic. | What will the policy impacts of an increasingly accessible Arctic be for the UK’s Climate and Energy Policy? | |
Evidence-search perspective | Concerns the search for evidence to inform general purpose evidence search. | How can we make more effective use both of existing and new data and analytic methodologies to generate the intelligence to support our decision making to ensure that hazard identification and consequence models are validated for new technologies and new ways of working? | ||
