Making the Undergraduate Classroom into a Policy Think Tank

Abstract

This article examines the opportunities and limitations presented by organizing an undergraduate field research methods class as a policy think tank working for a government client. Organized as such, the course had both the learning objectives of a traditional undergraduate methods class and the corporate objectives of a policy think tank (i.e., to produce a high-quality presentation and report for its client). This article finds that the learning and corporate objectives were largely aligned rather than conflicting, leading to anticipated and some unanticipated pedagogical benefits for learning sociological research methods, substantive sociological and policy areas, how to work effectively in goal-directed group work, and public policy generally. Finally, this article considers the pedagogical and ethical concerns with the course-based production of “policy-relevant” knowledge in the context of stark social divisions between student and research subject.