Evidence-based Policymaking Tool

Magenta Book: Guidance Notes on Policy Evaluation
(Government Chief Social Researcher's Office, 2003)

... effective policymaking must be a learning process which involves finding out from experience what works and what does not and making sure that others can learn from it too. This means that new policies must have evaluation of their effectiveness built into them from the start ...
(Professional Policymaking in the 21st Century, Cabinet Office, 2000)

What is it?
The Magenta Book is a series of guidance notes on policy evaluation and analysis intended to help 'intelligent customers' and 'intelligent providers' determine what constitutes high quality work in the field. The notes complement HM Treasury's Guide to Economic Appraisal, more commonly known as The Green Book, and other sources of guidance from within government.

Where did it come from?
The Magenta Book was developed in the context of the post-1997 demand for evidence-based policymaking and the changing needs of analysis in and for government. This generated a demand for guidance on how to undertake high quality evaluation, appraisal and analysis for policymaking.

When is it used?
It is for use throughout the policymaking process; from commissioning to eventual evaluation.

How does it work?
The Magenta Book provides a user-friendly guide for specialists and generalists alike on the methods used by social researchers when they commission, undertake and manage policy research and evaluation. Where technical detail is necessary in order to expand on methodological procedures and arguments, these are presented in an easily understandable and clear format. The subject is approached from the perspective of analysts, rather than that of social researchers and therefore avoids the methodological disputes between academic disciplines or different schools of thought.

The Magenta Book provides guidance on:

How to refine a policy question to get a useful answer
The main evaluation methods used to answer policy questions
The strengths and weaknesses of different methods of evaluation
The difficulties that arise in using different methods of evaluation
The costs involved in using different methods of evaluation, and the benefits to be gained
Where to go to find out more detailed information about policy evaluation and analysis

Box: Types of economic analysis used in economic evaluation

Cost-analysis compares the costs of different initiatives without considering outcomes to be achieved (or that have been achieved). Absence of information on outcomes is a major limitation of cost appraisal and evaluation. It cannot tell us much, or anything, about the relative effectiveness or benefits of different interventions.

Cost-effectiveness analysis compares the differential costs involved in achieving a given objective or outcome. It provides a measure of the relative effectiveness of different interventions.

Cost-benefit analysis considers the differential benefits that can be gained by a given expenditure of resources. Cost-benefit analysis involves a consideration of alternative uses of a given resource, or the opportunity cost of doing something compared with doing something else.

Cost-utility analysis evaluates the utility of different outcomes for different users or consumers of a policy or service. Cost-utility analysis typically involves subjective evaluations of outcomes by those affected by a policy, programme or project, using qualitative and quantitative data.

Source: Policyhub website section on Magenta Chapter 1.

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