Demystifying Multidisciplinarity in Policy Studies: A Case for Sociological Engagement in Public Policy Analysis

Although the multi-disciplinarity of public policy studies is often captured by the notion of “policy sciences,†the most influential approaches, research designs, and dominant empirical outputs primarily emerge from the disciplines of political science and economics. This has relegated other policy sciences to the periphery of public policy discourse. This study examines the role of sociology—one of the most underappreciated yet promising disciplines in generating society-relevant and society-sensitive insights for evidence-based policy processes. Using a systematic review and interpretivism, the study explores how sociology engages with public policy analysis across four major arenas: conceptual, theoretical, methodological, and empirical. Findings indicate that sociological engagement in public policy analysis offers a broader perspective than other policy sciences, which often prioritize economic efficiency or technological innovation. Sociology accounts for historical contexts, social inequalities, and lived experiences, placing the human element at the center of policy discourse. Conceptually, the study highlights sociology’s contributions through analytically influential tools such as public sociology and policy networks. Theoretically, it illustrates the relevance of major sociological perspectives—including functionalism, conflict theory, and feminism—in shaping public policy discourse. Methodologically, the study finds that sociological research designs, such as phenomenology, narrative research, and ethnography, provide the necessary nuance for structuring, designing, formulating, implementing, monitoring, evaluating, and diffusing public policies in an increasingly globalized world. Empirically, two case studies—the influence of sociologists in developing responsible research and innovation policy for synthetic biology in the United Kingdom and the role of Prof. Chaitanya Mishra in advancing social welfare policies in Nepal—illustrate how sociological perspectives simultaneously challenge and complement dominant policy framings. The findings reaffirm that sociology should not be viewed merely as a peripheral policy science but as a pragmatic tool for fostering pro-society policies that address economic and technological imperatives while upholding social justice, equity, and long-term societal welfare.