PETS Methodology
The PETS policy surveillance process, from identification through analysis, follows a set of established, objective criteria :
Identify : Pending policies are identified in several ways : Technical Assistance staff hear of pending policies through multiple channels, including CTPP Communities of Practice calls, coalition meetings/emails/newsletters, Partners posts, and direct communication with partners. Two Information Specialists utilize sophisticated search queries on the PETS policy topics to scan online tobacco policy news sources, internet search engines, newspapers, and other channels on a daily basis.
Track : Pending policies are recorded in ANRF's internal tracking systems and actively followed via further news reports, communications from the field, checks to municipal government websites, emails, and/or phone calls.
Acquire : Once policies are enacted, they are acquired by the Law and Policy Acquisition Specialist. PETS requires a final signed and dated copy of the ordinance enacted by a City Council or Board of Supervisors. Staff also makes quarterly posts to Partners requesting LLAs and other CTPP-funded projects to email a final signed and dated copy of new policies to the Law and Policy Acquisition Specialist.
Analyze : Each policy is analyzed against the questions, response options, and points values in the four PETS policy rubrics, using standardized guidelines and analysis forms, which are applied objectively to analyze and score all tobacco prevention policies for PETS. The analysis form is completed by reading the policy against the guidelines.
All policies are analyzed by experienced PETS policy analysts who work in teams of two. Three of the four PETS analysts hold JD degrees. Policies are assigned to a 1st PETS Analyst who conducts the first analysis, after which it moves to a 2nd PETS Analyst for second review and analysis. Any discrepancies are reviewed and reconciled by the 2nd Analyst of the team; further reconciliation if needed is conducted by the Senior Policy Analyst and other team members.
Data entry : After policies have been analyzed and reviewed, the raw analysis data are recorded in electronic format for easier review and final reconciliation of analysis discrepancies prior to final extraction and conversion to PETS formatted data sets.
Data disseminated : Policy data are posted on PETS via quarterly updates to matrices and lists and announced on Partners. PETS data are also disseminated to the California tobacco prevention field through data runs and technical assistance requests from LLAs, researchers, and CTPP. Policy data through early 2021 are available in a searchable format at pets.tcspartners.org, and the data upload process is in development to provide current, continually updated, scored and searchable policy data directly to the PETS website.
