Guidance for Policy Consultants
Note
The content here is not meant to be definitive or universal guidance.
These are a set of heuristics derived from practical experience. Treat them as a starting point for thinking and discussion, not gospel truth.
Who is this for?
This section is for professionals who work with data to inform policy, programmes, and decision-making, in the Indian public and social sectors.
The guides and references here are designed for people who:
- Regularly work with government datasets and reports
- Need to translate data into clear notes, briefs, dashboards, or presentations
- Care more about practical use and decision relevance than theoretical methods
- Want checklists, templates, and examples that reflect real constraints (time, data quality, stakeholders)
The focus is on using data well in real policy contexts – from collection and cleaning to analysis, communication, and application in decision-making.
What can you find here?
The Guides are organised as a practical knowledge base for people working with data and evidence in policy contexts. It is divided into two broad sub-sections: How To and Resources.
How To
The How To section contains step-by-step, task-oriented guides focused on common analytical and knowledge-production activities in policy and programme work. These guides focus on process, structure, and judgement rather than tools alone. The aim is to help you make better decisions about how to approach a task, not just what buttons to click.
Resources
The Resources section offers reusable reference material you can return to during your work, including sector-specific dataset wikis, practical checklists for data handling, and tips for producing clearer reports, presentations, and dashboards. These resources are meant to reduce day-to-day friction and support consistency and clarity across projects and teams.