What goes in a Policy Data Brief

The Policy Data Brief is the final artifact of this course. It is a one-page document—concise, structured, and actionable—that communicates a data-grounded policy argument to a non-specialist audience. Policymakers, advocates, journalists, and campaign staff can use it without a statistics background.

A Policy Data Brief has exactly five sections:

Section 1 — Research Question

One sentence. Specific. Answerable with the data you have. States the outcome variable, the comparison group or time period, and the jurisdiction. (Module 6.2 covers this in detail.)

Section 2 — Data Source

Name the dataset(s) you used. Include: the issuing agency, the time period covered, the geographic level (state, county, precinct), and where to access it. For this course, your data source will be one of: Georgia voter registration file (SoS), Georgia precinct-level election results (SoS), ACS CVAP Special Tabulation (Census Bureau), or Redistricting Data Hub shapefiles.

Section 3 — Key Finding

2–3 sentences. Lead with the number. Include the comparison. Hedge appropriately. Note the methodology briefly. (Module 6.3 covers this in detail.)

Section 4 — Methodology Note

Two to four sentences that explain what you did, what you excluded, and the limits of the analysis. This section is not optional—it is what separates a credible brief from an unverifiable assertion. Example: "County-level rejection rates were calculated as ballots rejected ÷ ballots returned for the 2020 general election. Counties with fewer than 500 mail ballots returned were excluded (n=12) due to small sample instability. Race coding is based on self-reported voter file data; approximately 16% of records statewide carry an 'Unknown' race designation."

Section 5 — Policy Recommendation

One to three sentences. Specific action. Named actor (who should do this). Data-grounded—your finding should logically support the action. (Module 6.4 covers this in detail.)