Department of Society and Globalisation, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark.
Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2012 Oct;40 Suppl 2:148-53. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0528.2012.00735.x.
In policy studies, an enduring research question is why some issues are taken seriously while others never become a central focus of policy making. This study aims to analyse the predecision stage of policy making and examines the position of oral health on the broader health policy agenda.
A study of networks of influence in health policy in the state of Victoria (Australia) is used to examine the health policy agenda, and the position of oral health within the broader health policy agenda. Social network concepts were used to structure the data collection. Nominations of influential people were collected using a snowball method, followed by interviews with a selection of those nominated.
Combining an assessment of who is seen to be influential with an examination of the issues they are interested in provides insights into how influence helps shape the policy agenda and how this changes over time.
The study describes how oral health might become more central to the health policy agenda through deliberate strategies to change the network structure.
在政策研究中，一个持久的研究问题是，为什么有些问题会受到重视，而有些问题则从未成为政策制定的核心焦点。本研究旨在分析政策制定的决策前阶段，并研究口腔健康在更广泛的卫生政策议程中的地位。
本研究使用维多利亚州（澳大利亚）卫生政策中影响网络的研究来检验卫生政策议程，以及口腔健康在更广泛的卫生政策议程中的地位。社会网络概念被用于构建数据收集。通过滚雪球的方法收集有影响力的人的提名，然后对其中一些被提名者进行采访。
将评估谁有影响力与考察他们感兴趣的问题相结合，可以深入了解影响是如何帮助塑造政策议程的，以及这种影响是如何随时间变化的。
该研究通过刻意改变网络结构的策略，描述了口腔健康如何更有可能成为卫生政策议程的核心。
