A future-oriented inquiry into the optimum means of achieving a given set of social objectives. It may also encompass studies designed to extend the range of social alternatives perceived by decision-makers, and to suggest the long-range and implicit consequences of various sets of value priorities. This may involve inquiry into alternative: descriptions of the problem context; ways of conceptualizing the problem; sets of goals and objectives; predictions of probable outcomes of the courses of action considered (including alternative models); strategies for assuring preferred outcomes; and methods of appraising the implementation of a selected course of action.
Policy analysis is therefore a problem-oriented approach as distinguished from a disciplinary approach. Its success depends upon the identification and the integration of relevant knowledge and the cooperation of appropriate participants from all relevant disciplines.