Summary
Learning Objective
Learning Objectives
  • Understand how to use data, research and analysis in policy making 
  • Describe the value of different types of data and research for policymaking on migration  
  • Explain what data, research, and analysis is needed to support each stage of policymaking 
  • Define key concepts used in migration data 
  • identify relevant data and research from different national, regional and international sources  
  • List considerations for working with migration data and describe how to apply guidance on how to work with migration data 
  • Explain how to identify credible research and data of good quality 
  • Explain the process of and actors involved in commissioning research for policymaking 
  • Identify and anticipate the challenges for States, regional bodies and international organizations in collecting and using data and research in policymaking 
  • Understand the importance of developing capacity and expertise in migration data collection, analysis and reporting in countries and regions 
Introduction

This chapter presents guidance on using evidence for more effective policymaking on migration. It introduces key concepts and definitions as well as common issues related to migration data, research and analysis. It also suggests steps to consider when undertaking capacity-building efforts related to migration data.

Importance of data, research and analysis to inform migration policy and practice

Data, research and analysis are central to national strategies on migration and developing effective and sustainable policies (see Developing migration policy). Sound evidence can create coherence between:

  • policies and programmes
  • policy sectors
  • national and subnational levels of government
  • national migration policies and international obligations and standards

Evidence is also important for:

  • planning for future opportunities and challenges, including in the realm of foreign policy
  • mobilizing resources for the development and implementation of policies

The United Nations has highlighted the importance of data and research on migration in recent high-level global initiatives:

  • The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goal 17 Target 18 sets out the need to increase the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data across development sectors that are disaggregated by migratory status, to monitor progress towards meeting targets. At least eleven of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) contain targets and/or indicators directly relevant to migration that need improved data. In addition, several targets are either directly or indirectly relevant to migration, and either specialized migration data, or other data disaggregated by migratory status, will be required to monitor their progress.
  • The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration sets out in its first objective “improving and investing in the collection, analysis and dissemination of accurate, reliable, comparable data, disaggregated by sex, age and migration status and other characteristics relevant in national contexts”. The aim is to “ensure this evidence fosters research, guides well-informed and coherent policymaking and public discourse, and allows for effective monitoring of the implementation of commitments over time.” Objective 1 also recommends several ways to improve migration data, including developing a global programme to build national migration data capacities, supporting relevant databases (including the Global Migration Data Portal) and establishing regional centres for migration research and training. This objective is significant because it recognizes that evidence is central to migration governance and relevant for action under all other objectives.

While global momentum for improving migration data has never been stronger, this is a challenge that requires political and institutional commitment. It requires the allocation of sufficient resources: both human and technological resources, feasible and sustainable plans of action and ongoing capacity-building to create a “data aware” policy environment.

Challenges for evidence-based policymaking

Timely and sound data: Without data of good quality, coverage and timeliness, it is not possible to develop informed migration-related policies or to plan programme activities that can be monitored effectively and transparently.

Comparable data: Different concepts and definitions related to migration data are often used across and even within countries (see Concepts and definitions and Frameworks, standards and guidelines on migration data in What is data for policyamking? this chapter). Comparability of migration data within and across countries and regions is vital for the development of effective policies and to support international cooperation on migration [IOM Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC), 2018]. In order to compare migration data, though, standardized concepts and definitions are required.

Cross-sectoral data: Data gaps remain in many areas. Appropriate collection of data – especially if appropriately disaggregated – could shed light on the often “hidden” dimensions of migration as well as on migration-relevant aspects in public policy areas (such as health, education, housing and transport, access to legal services), allowing for policy to be crafted in these areas.

Data, research and analysis quality and credibility: In an era of rapid change, when increasingly influential digital technologies make it increasingly easy to produce and share information, quality and credibility of data, research and analysis pose additional challenges. Finding ways to evaluate, contextualize and effectively use this wealth of existing information is as important as ensuring that new sources of evidence produce good quality and credible information (see details on data innovation and new sources in Accessing relevant data for policymaking). Having irrelevant or low-quality evidence is as ineffective as having too little evidence.

Identifying, accessing, assessing and using relevant data, analysis and research: Identifying and using relevant evidence can be challenging, especially when policymakers need to respond to issues quickly (see McAuliffe, Bauloz and Kitimbo, 2020, for a discussion related to the challenges of doing real-time analysis in the context of the health pandemic triggered by COVID-19). Data, research and analysis on specific migration topics are sometimes missing or may not be accessible. Even when data are available, they may be unknown to government officials, may not be of good quality, and may be ultimately disregarded (see Accessing relevant research and analysis for policymaking).

Contrasts in how policy and research sectors operate: Research timelines can be lengthy while policymakers usually work with time pressures. While researchers would benefit from a better understanding of policy processes in order to better tailor research to inform policymaking, so too would policymakers benefit from a greater understanding of research development (IOM, 2017: 95–96).

People, power and politics: These elements should be understood when identifying evidence to be used for policymaking. Policymaking is not value neutral, and informing policies with unbiased empirical evidence is not straightforward. First, research designs and data collection instruments (such as survey questionnaires) can vary, and the answers provided by people surveyed can be biased. Second, migration takes place in the context of politics, and can often be a highly politicized topic. This impacts the ways in which migration data are interpreted, how the research and analysis are reflected back to the policymaker, and how the data and research are used in the policymaking process. Third, actors with power may be more interested in evidence that is closer to their political ideology and as a result some evidence may be marginalized.

Role of data, research and analysis in the policy cycle

Policymaking is multilevel and multi-actor. It extends across various levels of governance and involves both public and private actors. These factors impact the way data and research can be used in order to produce evidence-based policies.

Sound evidence is needed at the outset, in order to clearly establish the policy question at stake, and then to establish what additional evidence is needed to address it. It is important to seek evidence to inform potential policy options, and to avoid seeking evidence to simply justify policies already decided (Boswell, 2009).

While data, research and analysis constitute a specific stage of the policy cycle, they are also relevant to all stages. It is important that they be not seen as a stage that is “done” before moving on the next, but rather as requirements for informing each stage from issue identification, through policy formulation, implementation and evaluation.

Below is a table summarizing the different policy cycle stages and the role and type of evidence needed in each stage:

 

Table
Table 1. Evidence needs per stage of the policy cycle

 

POLICY CYCLE STAGE

ROLE OF EVIDENCE

 TYPE OF EVIDENCE

POLICY ACTORS INVOLVED

ISSUE IDENTIFICATION AND DEFINITION

  • Identify new issues
  • Identify the magnitude and the urgency of an issue
  • Identify data that will need to be collected and the risks and benefits of data collection
  • Evidence on the scale and urgency of an issue
  • Evidence of different dimensions of an issue and of causal relationships between the factors underpinning the issue
  • Analysis of risks and benefits of addressing the issue
  • Analysis of data gaps and issues of privacy and data protection
  • Almost everyone. For example: policymakers, international organizations, citizen and interest groups, researchers, media, individual citizens

DATA, RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS

  • Analyse aspects of the issue in more detail
  • Inform the development of policy options
  • Shed light on factors influencing policy choices
  •  Analyse data gaps and issues relating to privacy and data protection
  • Migration data pertinent to the issue from national and subnational sources
  • Research and analysis describing good practices from other States
  • Guidelines, agreements, initiatives and relevant evidence at the regional and global levels
  • Updated risk and benefit assessments for data protection
  • Policymakers can reach out to national statistics offices, data analysts in relevant government agencies, other in-house experts or can commission research externally (e.g. academics, think tanks)
  • Thematic Experts
  • International communities of practice can help with expertise and ideas (e.g. international organizations)

POLICY FORMULATION

  • Inform the appraisal stage of Policy Formulation
  • Clarify the link between an action and the potential outcome (i.e. will the intervention cause the desired effect?) as well as its expected cost and impact
  • Support the various assessments required (regulation impact; legal implications; risk; human rights compatibility; financial analysis)
  • Evaluate practical aspects of policy design to inform selection of policies, such as whether a proposal is desirable; coherent with other policies; timely; feasible (i.e. can be regulated and administered; is affordable; can mobilize relevant actors within necessary timeframes; will be tolerated by the public); and how the policy can be evaluated.
  • Provide a comprehensive understanding of the issue and the available policy options
  • Clarify possibilities for implementation
  • Expert reports; testimony; national and/or international jurisprudence
  • Analysis correlating the suggested policy options with potential outcomes
  • Analysis of policy options’ impact, legal implications, risk, compliance with international standards such as human rights compatibility, financial situation and cost-benefit, gender-responsiveness and feasibility
  • There should be diverse and credible types of evidence that lead to the same or similar policy proposals
  • Policymakers
  • Thematic experts
  • citizen and interest groups with specific demands and concerns

CONSULTATION

  • For stakeholders, evidence will help to clarify perspectives and positions in the discussions during consultations. Such communication of the policies can encourage their buy-in
  • Evidence supporting the perspectives of different stakeholders
  • Evidence supporting the policy options under discussion
  • Within the lead department: technical experts, Human Resources personnel, financial and communications specialists, policy analysts
  • Within the government as a whole: other departments which may be directly or indirectly impacted
  • Other governments, including other levels of government could be involved, as applicable
  • Among stakeholders: community organizations, cultural and other interest groups, private sector, trade unions, migrant and diaspora representatives (see further in Consultation).

POLICY ADOPTION

  • Substantiate the policy option to be adopted to support decision-making
  • Research and analysis (reports, briefs, academic papers) that support the policy to be adopted
  • Decision-making is the responsibility of official actors only

POLICY IMPLEMENTATION

  • Improve the effectiveness of initiatives aiming to implement the policy
  • Communicate the policy and its changes to relevant stakeholders and the public in a clear and convincing way
  • Fit-for-purpose explanatory documentation setting out evidence behind the policy rationale
  • Operational evidence, such as analytic work and systematic learning around technical skills, for instance via action research and pilot projects
  • Desk officers
  • Experts and other consultants (in house or contracted)

POLICY MONITORING AND EVALUATION

  • Assess how effective the implemented policy has been and provide the basis for future decision-making
  • Inform the continuing policy process
  • Review risks and benefits to verify any new data protection gaps and issues
  • Objective, thorough and relevant monitoring evidence collected systematically (monitoring reports)
  • Recommendations regarding whether and how a policy should be adjusted, extended, terminated based on results
  • Decision-makers
  • Desk officers
  • Experts and other consultants (in house or contracted).
Source

Adapted from Government of Malawi, Ministry of Health (2016) with additional input drawn from PolicyNL, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada (n.d).

Note: This list is not exhaustive

What can be observed from Table 1 is that each stage of the policy cycle has its own characteristics and the actors playing the central role vary from stage to stage. This means that the type of evidence that is needed in each stage may be different. For instance, the evidence relating to the implementation of a policy is usually more practice oriented and often involves the measurement of results. In contrast, in the first stages of the cycle, research and analysis can provide background and insights on the issue itself.