Formulation of mental health policy research problems

This chapter reviews the task of formulating and planning mental health policy research. It examines this task as one involving the coordination of two sets of decisions, one involving the policy development process and the other of research conceptualization and planning. Thus, it emphasizes the importance of the researcher forming a relationship with policy makers, and fully assessing the policy making landscape and the anticipated decisional needs of policy makers and other stakeholders. After reviewing the role of research in policy making, the chapter considers how research problems are identified; discusses the challenges of defining the problems, aims, and questions of the research; and of developing the overall design of the study. It also discusses the value and use of theory, and finally, several specialized methods that are particularly relevant to problem formulation, such as focus groups, concept mapping, and Delphi studies. The chapter contends that while simplified sequential stage models of both research planning and policy development can sometimes be useful, more often the research should treat these as multiple intersecting processes akin to juggling.