Unlocking the Potential of the "What Works" Approach to Policymaking and Practice: Improving Impact Evaluations

Autor/inn/en	Granger, Robert C.; Maynard, Rebecca
Titel	Unlocking the Potential of the "What Works" Approach to Policymaking and Practice: Improving Impact Evaluations
Quelle	In: American Journal of Evaluation, 36 (2015) 4, S.558-569 (12 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1098-2140
DOI	10.1177/1098214015594420
Schlagwörter	Outcome Measures; Program Evaluation; Evaluation Utilization; Policy; Measurement; Costs; Data Collection; Research and Development; Theory Practice Relationship + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Programme evaluation; Programmevaluation; Politik; Messverfahren; Cost; Kosten; Data capture; Datensammlung; Forschung und Entwicklung; Theorie-Praxis-Beziehung
Abstract	Despite bipartisan support in Washington, DC, which dates back to the mid-1990s, the "what works" approach has yet to gain broad support among policymakers and practitioners. One way to build such support is to increase the usefulness of program impact evaluations for these groups. We describe three ways to make impact evaluations more useful to policy and practice: emphasize learning from all studies over sorting out winners and losers; collect better information on the conditions that shape an intervention's success or failure; and learn about the features of programs and policies that influence their effectiveness. We argue that measurement of the treatment contrast that exists between the intervention and comparison condition(s) is important for each of these changes. Measurement and analysis of the treatment contrast will increase cost and policymakers and practitioners already see evaluations as expensive. Therefore we offer suggestions for reducing costs in other areas of data collection. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01