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Assessing Policy IV: Goal-Means Tree Analysis

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The Palgrave Handbook of Methods for Media Policy Research

Abstract

Media policy is filled with overstated ambitions, for example on the democratic potential of media technologies. Goal-means tree analysis is a method of qualitative document analysis that exactly aims to assess the relationship between the stated ambitions of policy makers and the actual means advanced to meet these objectives. In this chapter we elaborate on the method and apply it in a media policy context. While document analysis in media policy is often equated with the method of close reading, goal-means tree analysis provides a more detailed methodological approach to follow. We go back to the origins of the method and elaborate on the development by Kuypers (Beginselen van beleidsontwikkeling (deel A theorieën), Couthino, Bussum, 1980) and the revisions by Van de Graaf and Hoppe (Een inleiding tot de beleidswetenschap en de beleidskunde, Couthino, Bussum, 1992) to adopt a more contextualised approach.

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Further Reading

  • Bressers, J. TH. A. (2003). Evaluatie van beleid. In A. Hoogerwerf & M. Herweijer (Eds.), Overheidsbeleid. Een inleiding in de beleidswetenschap. Zevende geheel herziene druk (pp. 173–196). Alphen aan den Rijn: Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoogerwerf, A. (2003). Beleid, processen en effecten. In A. Hoogerwerf & M. Herweijer (Eds.), Overheidsbeleid. Een inleiding in de beleidswetenschap. Zevende geheel herziene druk (Inleiding). Alphen aan den Rijn: Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuypers, G. (1980). Beginselen van beleidsontwikkeling (deel A theorieën). Bussum: Couthino.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanderson, I. (2002). Making sense of ‘what works’: Evidence based policy making as instrumental rationality? Public Policy and Administration, 17(3), 61–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van de Graaf, H., & Hoppe, R. (1992). Een inleiding tot de beleidswetenschap en de beleidskunde. Bussum: Couthino.

    Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. imec-SMIT, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Anne-Sofie Vanhaeght

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  1. Anne-Sofie Vanhaeght
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Communication, Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA

    Hilde Van den Bulck

  2. Department of Communication and Media Research, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland

    Manuel Puppis

  3. Department of Communication Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Karen Donders

  4. Department of Communication Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Leo Van Audenhove

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Vanhaeght, AS. (2019). Assessing Policy IV: Goal-Means Tree Analysis. In: Van den Bulck, H., Puppis, M., Donders, K., Van Audenhove, L. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Methods for Media Policy Research. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16065-4_34

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