Research Design for Policy Analysis and Planning
MIT's graduate seminar in urban studies and planning teaches how to design research for policy analysis. The course centers on the logic of the research process itself: framing a question, choosing a methodology, and defending the epistemological assumptions behind it. Materials draw broadly across the social sciences, and students read assigned texts before each session to discuss key concepts, controversies, and competing methodological traditions. Discussions repeatedly link abstract research design concepts back to planning scholarship, examining how different epistemological orientations map onto specific planning specializations such as housing, transportation, or environmental policy. The course includes a full syllabus and reading list published through MIT OpenCourseWare, with no enrollment or certificate fee, aimed at students preparing to design their own dissertation or applied policy research.