The absent elephant in the 2016 : Modernising Child Youth and Family Expert Panel Report

Abstract

Sometimes the most interesting thing about a new policy document or report is not what is present in the document but what is absent.

On receiving the report Investing in New Zealand’s Children and Their Families I used the very simple textual analysis technique of searching for the frequency of what I considered important words. Such a simple analysis does not necessarily create a window into the minds and thinking of the authors; however it does give some indications about what they consider important at least as measured by how frequently they talk about it.