Issues in the Evaluation of Social Programs

Efforts in the past decade to reduce the incidence of major social problems have stimulated a new interest in program evaluation. Numerous writings have appeared on the use of the concepts and methods of behavioral research in evaluating these interventions. This paper is a review of that literature. It surveys evaluation programs designed to produce some identifiable change in individual or social groups. The first part of the paper is concerned with basic issues which include definitions, approaches to evaluation methodology, roles of evaluation in program development, and distinctions among various forms of research. The second section deals with organizational matters such as the establishment of the evaluative research role, administration of evaluative research, utilization of the results of evaluation, and implications of client activism for evaluation. The third portion reviews methodological issues in measurement and design of evaluation studies.