Public Policy and Administration Practice Translation Memo: The practice translation memo project is designed to instill in students the
competency to translate public policy and administration research into practice. In doing so, students will demonstrate the ability to access,
identify, evaluate, and use effectively the extant research on substantive topics.

Translation memorandums should be addressed to either a supervisor or elected official(s). The paper must be formatted and include citations
utilizing the APA format (including APA’s margins but no abstract required). Each page of the paper (except cover) should be numbered and
include the author’s name. The citation page(s) do not count toward this page limit.

1. Research Question – (i) What question/s is the article trying to answer? (ii) To what extent is it stated clearly and explicitly? (iii) If
it is not stated explicitly, are you able to draw inferences from the article to identify the research question/s?

2. Contributions to the Literature – (i) How does the article contribute to the scientific literature? To identify the contributions you might
ask: Have the authors identified a gap in the literature that needs to be filled, or a need to test competing theories/hypotheses, or explore
a theory in a new context? (ii) To what extent is the contribution stated clearly and explicitly?

3. Main Argument(s) or Findings – (i) What basic arguments are the author(s) trying to make or what are their key findings/conclusions? (ii)
To what extent are the arguments or findings stated clearly and explicitly?

4. Research Design/Data Sources – (i) What is the research design/data sources (e.g. documents, surveys, interviews)? (ii) To what extent is
the information gathered and analyzed in a manner that is intersubjectively reliable (replicable)? (iii) How are data limitations addressed
and threats to validity controlled for (e.g., control groups)?

5. Tables and Figures – (i) How clear and informative are the tables and figures? (ii) Is there a detailed caption so the table and figure can
be understood without searching the text? (iii) Do the variables names make sense? (iv) Are significant impacts clearly marked? (v) To what
extent are the tables and figures effective in expressing the basic argument?

6. Explanatory/Descriptive Approach – (i) Is the basic argument descriptive or explanatory? (ii) What variables are critical for making the
basic argument? (iii) If applicable, what are the independent and dependent variables? (iii) What causal process does the article make with
the variables? (i.e., how are the variables related?) (iv) What is the theory and hypotheses for the causal process? Are the hypotheses
supported or refuted? (v) Is there internal validity?

7. Operationalization – (i) To what extent are variables operationalized (measured) in a valid manner? (ii) To what extent does variable
operationalization adequately represent the variable concept (construct validity)? (iii) Are important variables not operationalized? Which
ones?

8. Statistical Techniques – (i) How appropriate are the statistical techniques in the paper? (ii) Does the author test for
assumptions/limitations? (iii) Do the data show what the author says they show? Does the author discuss dissonant findings?

9. Generalizability – i) To what extent does the author seek to generalize his/her basic argument? (ii) How valid are the generalizations?

10. Implications – (i) What are the policy implications from the article? (ii) In what ways are the implications drawn from the arguments/data
in the article?

11. Clarity of Writing – (i) Is the article well-written? (ii) Is the writing clear? (iii) Could the article be written more succinctly?