 The politics of evaluation researchDavid K Banner Omega, 1974, vol. 2, issue 6, 763-774 Abstract: Despite enormous outlays of federal monies for social programs in the United States, many social problems toward which these funds have been directed have shown little remission. In some cases, the problems have worsened. Increasingly, social planners and administrators are being required to offer some proof concerning the efficacy of their particular program before Congress will refund them. Evaluation research has come to serve this legitimization function. Unfortunately, because of the nature of the political environment surrounding evaluation research, "objective" research often proves impossible. Even the most carefully designed and well-implemented evaluation is often sabotaged by political factors. The nature of the roles that various actors in the political environment feel compelled to play vis à vis evaluation research creates problems that directly affect ultimate research quality. This article seeks to identify the nature of this problem, how it is manifested in the behaviour of various people in governmental power structures and how an environment might be designed to reduce the political volatility of evaluation research. Date: 1974 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jomega:v:2:y:1974:i:6:p:763-774 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Omega is currently edited by B. Lev More articles in Omega from Elsevier |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.