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The pandemic is already forcing many individuals, businesses, and governments to rethink much of what they do and how they do it. As such, it presents an opportunity for public administrators to re...

Una evaluación de política puede enriquecerse de metodologías cualitativas en aras de profundizar el entendimiento del investigador sobre la política, que muchas veces obedece a criterios positivistas y se concentra en mostrar los avances cuantitativos de sus logros. En este sentido, este artículo declara y muestra evidencia del valor del análisis de discurso en el marco de estudios comparativos de política pública, ampliando la capacidad de entender el contexto histórico, cultural, social y simbólico en el cual la política es construida e implementada. Como ilustración, se examinan las reformas en políticas públicas para el aseguramiento de la calidad de las instituciones de educación superior (IES) y sus programas en Colombia y Ecuador, aplicando el método de análisis de discurso para examinar si la política identifica y explica objetivos, problemas, retos y soluciones de maneras similares o no, ayudando a apreciar cómo las palabras representan valores, a entender mejor a las instituciones, y a evaluar la estabilidad o la falta de ella en las políticas públicas. Los resultados sugieren que el método revela diferencias significativas que los datos y estudios cuantitativos ocultan. Generally, the evaluation of a public policy is often based on positivist criteria, with a focus on showing quantitative evidence of progress and achievement. To convert this information into truly useful feedback, a policy study could be enriched through the use of qualitative methodologies, in order to deepen the understanding of the policy within its unique context. In this sense, this paper makes the case for and provides evidence of the value of discourse analysis in comparative policy studies. As one method of qualitative analysis, discourse analysis provides the researcher with the capacity to consider the historical, cultural, social and symbolic context in which a policy is developed and implemented. This approach adds additional value to the quantitative data and can reveal flaws and strengths that the more superficial quantitative methods do not reveal. As an illustration, we examine reforms in public policies for quality assurance of higher education institutions and programs in Colombia and Ecuador. We apply the method of discourse analysis to examine whether the policies in the two countries define objectives, problems, challenges, and solutions in similar or dissimilar ways. Discourse analysis helps us appreciate the values represented in the words, better understand the institutions, and assess the stability (or lack thereof) in these public policies. Our research demonstrates that the methods of discourse analysis reveals important differences that the quantitative data and studies obscure.