Examining the Representation of Youth in the US Policy Documents through the Lens of Research

TL;DR

This paper investigates how youth issues are represented in US policy by examining which youth-related research is cited in policy documents. It applies a BERTopic-based topic modeling approach to a dataset of articles cited in policy documents sourced from Overton for the period 2000–2022, and compares topics in cited research with those in policy texts. Key findings indicate five broad youth-related topic areas, with healthcare topics predominating, and a substantial overlap (over 70%) between research and policy topics, though highly cited policy-linked research emphasizes COVID-19 and youth well-being. The work highlights the link between academic research and policy formulation and suggests expanding data sources and modeling approaches to improve youth representation in policy decisions.

Abstract

This study explores the representation of youth in US policy documents by analyzing how research on youth topics is cited within these policies. The research focuses on three key questions: identifying the frequently discussed topics in youth research that receive citations in policy documents, discerning patterns in youth research that contribute to higher citation rates in policy, and comparing the alignment between topics in youth research and those in citing policy documents. Through this analysis, the study aims to shed light on the relationship between academic research and policy formulation, highlighting areas where youth issues are effectively integrated into policy and contributing to the broader goal of enhancing youth engagement in societal decision-making processes.

Figures (4)

• Figure 1: Distribution of the citation count of research articles (1 to 10) in the US policy documents.
• Figure 2: BERTopic framework used for topics generation.
• Figure 3: Topic coherence of the topics generated in each dataset.
• Figure 4: Similarities between research and policy topics