Strengths and weaknesses that exist in the impact analysis - Coursework Example

IMPACT ANALYSIS ARTICLE s When describing the meaning of impact analysis, it refers to the positive and negative outcomes that may occur if any policy is implemented by government within the state or any organization. It also determines whether a particular policy’s implementation would result in achieving the desired goal. The term qualitative and quantitative refer to the data generated during the analysis. In a quantitative research, data is retrieved in form of numbers where as in qualitative research, data is in form of words or text A combination of these two forms of research adds value to the impact analysis.

(Garbarino & Holland, 2009) After a precise description of the forms of analysis, now we discuss the strength and weaknesses of impact analysis article; conducted in qualitative method of analysis. The analysis to the policy of smoke-free residence halls in state university is very well conducted. As the article suggests that nationwide efforts are needed to protect the public from hazardous effects of smoking, therefore, the policy needs to be implemented. The research is conducted in qualitative method; it is complete and rich in description.

The study covers all the aspects starting from impact on students, alumni and the parents. It carefully observes and describes that if smoking free residential halls policy is implemented that might be the students tend to smoke out side campus, resulting in increased outdoor pollution and litter. If for once this drawback is ignored the strength of this policy is immense compared to drawbacks. Observations can be misinterpreted sometimes, therefore, not just observations were recorded but during the data collection, interviews were conducted to record the changes in behavior and attitude of the students regarding this policy.

In this way, the observations were authenticated before any decision is made. The other major strength of this analysis is that, the study also analyzed the impact on the policy not only on the students but also the campus premises. As compared to earlier the residential halls faced fewer damages. Eventually, the on-campus environment became smoke free and clean. The conflict among roommates regarding smoking in dorm rooms was a common cause of conflict that decreased after the policy was implemented.

The analysis also foresees that implementation of smoking-free residential halls may decrease the illness rate among the students living on campus and being exposed to smoking. The policy does not lead to any negative conclusions from the study. Therefore, the advantages of an impact analysis are greater than its disadvantages.The objective of this paper is to identify the strength and weaknesses of an impact analysis. Such studies are conducted by organizations to forecast the positive and negative effect of certain policies after their implementation.

The study attempts to determine whether the policies would contribute in getting a desired result or not.The only weakness in the impact analysis article is that while regulating the use of tobacco in campus of an institution, environmental pollution increases as the outdoor smoking and litter outside the campus increase to a great number.Therefore, the policy makers and managers should use a variety of methods while conducting a study, to overcome any resultant factor that causes damage. Qualitative and quantitative, both methodologies are needed to form an error-free study.

(Mays, Pope, & Popay, 2005)RefrencesGarbarino , S., & Holland, J. (2009). Quantitative and qualitative methods in impact evaluation and measuring results. Retrieved from http://www.gsdrc.org/docs/open/EIRS4.pdfMays, N., Pope, C., & Popay, J. (2005). Systematically reviewing qualitative and quantitative evidence to inform management and policy-making in the health field. Journal of health services research & policy, 10(suppl 1), 6-20. Retrieved from