Should We Care about Evidence-Based Approaches?

From the early 1990s "evidence-based medicine" (EBM) was formalized to promote the most judicious use possible of available knowledge by practitioners, the word "evidence" referring simultaneously to factual evidence, empirical corroboration, & proof. The tenets of EBM spread to other decision-making spheres (poverty-abatement policies, law, education, environment...) resulting in the notion of "evidence-based policy" (EBP). In the French-speaking world, increasing reference to EBP is often dismissed as an insignificant effect of rhetoric or an attempt to depoliticize debate. But an analysis of its origins suggests a more nuanced judgmen. It rather shows the will to renew positive approaches to help public decision-making through an arsenal of ad hoc methodologies. In particular, EBP approaches contribute to counterbalance the increasing use of knowledge models based exclusively on opinions or simulations that relieve themselves from empirical validation. Adapted from the source document.