PAC Ethical Considerations in Policy Analysis 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A policy analyst discovers that a key dataset supporting the agency's preferred policy option contains significant errors. What is the ethically required action?
- Report the errors to supervisors and recommend correcting the analysis before publication (Correct answer)
- Proceed with publication since the overall conclusion is unlikely to change
- Quietly remove the flawed dataset without disclosing its removal
- Wait to see if external reviewers catch the errors first
Correct answer: Report the errors to supervisors and recommend correcting the analysis before publication
Integrity requires analysts to disclose data errors and correct the analysis, even when doing so is inconvenient for the agency's preferred outcome.
Question 2: Which ethical principle is most directly violated when a policy analyst selectively presents only evidence that supports the client's preferred outcome?
- Confidentiality
- Objectivity (Correct answer)
- Loyalty
- Competence
Correct answer: Objectivity
Selectively presenting evidence violates objectivity, which requires analysts to fairly represent all relevant evidence regardless of client preferences.
Question 3: A policy analyst is asked to evaluate a program run by an organization that previously employed her. She has no financial interest but holds strong positive views about the organization. The best course of action is to:
- Proceed without disclosure since there is no financial conflict
- Recuse herself or disclose the prior relationship and potential bias to the client (Correct answer)
- Conduct the evaluation but omit her prior employment from the report
- Ask a colleague to review her conclusions for bias after completion
Correct answer: Recuse herself or disclose the prior relationship and potential bias to the client
Non-financial conflicts of interest, including prior employment and personal affiliations, must be disclosed so clients can make informed decisions about the analyst's objectivity.
Question 4: In cost-benefit analysis, ethical concerns most commonly arise when analysts:
- Use discount rates to compare future costs and benefits
- Assign monetary values to human life, health, or equity impacts (Correct answer)
- Apply sensitivity analysis to test assumptions
- Calculate net present value of infrastructure investments
Correct answer: Assign monetary values to human life, health, or equity impacts
Monetizing human life, health, and equity outcomes raises profound ethical questions about valuation methods and whose values are reflected in the analysis.
Question 5: A policy analyst working for a state agency receives a subpoena requesting confidential data collected from program participants who were promised anonymity. The analyst should:
- Immediately comply with the subpoena without notifying participants
- Consult agency legal counsel and, where possible, seek to protect participant confidentiality (Correct answer)
- Destroy the data to prevent disclosure
- Publish the data publicly before the subpoena can be enforced
Correct answer: Consult agency legal counsel and, where possible, seek to protect participant confidentiality
Analysts must work through proper legal channels to balance legal obligations with confidentiality commitments made to research participants.
Question 6: The concept of 'speaking truth to power' in policy analysis refers to:
- Using quantitative methods to challenge qualitative assumptions
- Providing honest, evidence-based findings even when they conflict with what decision-makers want to hear (Correct answer)
- Advocating for marginalized communities in policy recommendations
- Publishing research findings in peer-reviewed journals
Correct answer: Providing honest, evidence-based findings even when they conflict with what decision-makers want to hear
Speaking truth to power means delivering accurate, evidence-based analysis regardless of whether findings are politically convenient or welcome to those in authority.
Question 7: When a policy analyst's ethical obligations to the client conflict with the public interest, professional ethics generally require the analyst to:
- Always prioritize client loyalty above all other obligations
- Give primacy to public interest while being transparent with the client about the ethical tension (Correct answer)
- Immediately resign from the project without explanation
- Resolve the conflict privately without involving any third parties
Correct answer: Give primacy to public interest while being transparent with the client about the ethical tension
Professional codes for policy analysts generally hold that public interest supersedes client loyalty, and that analysts should be transparent about ethical tensions they encounter.
PAC Ethical Considerations in Policy Analysis 2
A policy analyst discovers that a key dataset supporting the agency's preferred policy option contains significant errors.
What is the ethically required action?