To better understand policy formation, evaluators should be aware of the perspectives from which legislators view evaluators. Illustrations of the impact of evaluation and research projects on policy are provided. (Available from: Jossey-Bass, Inc., 433 California St., San Francisco, CA 94104, single issue, $6.95.) (Author/GDC)

A quantitative approach to accountability in community development ignores important aspects of the process, and a qualitative approach often fails to demonstrate to the public community development's impact. The use of interpretive methods, such as those used in the natural resources and recreation fields, can help people understand community…

Information use can be defined in many ways depending on a variety of organizational, personal, and presentational factors. The experience of evaluation researchers provides some guides for practice. (Author/MSE)

The use of evaluation information in a large state agency was investigated through a case study approach. Utilization was measured through a scaling procedure considering the status of recommendations within a report and the extent of influence of the evaluation of the status. The scaling procedure, the equal-appearing interval method, used…

Evaluation research should be viewed as the source of knowledge on two levels: (1) how evaluation studies utilize results, and (2) how the knowledge that was evaluated is utilized. The purpose of this document is to systematically examine the literature pertinent to the utilization of evaluation results. The impetus for legitimization of…

The keynote article in this issue summarizes some of the lessons learned after a decade of using satellites for public service, and after five years of experimentation with information technologies designed for specialized audiences. Community service programs in the Appalachian Mountain and Rocky Mountain regions and in the state of Alaska are…

This is the fifth and final paper of a symposium on the evaluation of juvenile diversion programs by the Claremont Graduate School Center for Applied Social Research. The first four papers deal with specific methodologies used to obtain information at each of four levels of evaluation: general project management, description of the intervention,…

Research investigated: 1) the quality of literature disseminated through an educational information channel, 2) its acceptance level, and 3) its effects upon decision-making. Some 102 research documents were selected from the 1971 entries in Research in Education (RIE), the abstracting and microfiche dissemination service for unpublished…

The present project is aimed at evaluating and describing the quality, uniformity and standards of vocational rehabilitation throughout the state agencies in the United States. The aim is to identify techniques, personnel, practices, programs and services that do and do not substantially contribute to effective vocational rehabilitation of…

Ethical problems in program evaluation are increased when conflicting or incompatible models are applied concurrently. Three models are illustrated: an amelioration model, for a program's own decision makers; an accountability model, focusing on public data disclosure; and an advocacy model, designed to advance the program's interest. Case…

Sixty farmers were interviewed to identify their principal sources of agricultural information, their perceptions of Cooperative Extension credibility, and the socioeconomic characteristics affecting their relationship with Extension. Among the presented findings is that extension agents and commercial dealers were used as secondary information…

Information from job analysis can be used to establish training objectives, to identify skills needed for the job, and to design performance tests. Methods of job analysis to yield necessary information for the creation of effective training programs are outlined. (MF)

Evaluators of basic units in higher education should be explicit about the motives, object, organization, criteria, methods, dissemination, and impacts of evaluation efforts to avoid being counterproductive. (Author/MSE)

Ethical issues; institutional characteristics and organizational arrangements; and roles and skills of the researcher must be considered if the government is to apply social science research findings more widely for the public good. (Available from: Jossey-Bass, Inc., 433 California St., San Francisco, CA 94104, single issue, $6.95.) (Author/GDC)

Good evaluation shares much with good teaching. What makes an evaluation useful can depend on qualities of teaching brought to the evaluator's role. (Available from: Jossey-Bass, Inc., 433 California St., San Francisco, CA 94104, single issue, $6.95.) (Author)