Examines some of the organizational dysfunctions that can result from an overdependence on the "rational-economic" decision-making approach. (Author)

A case history of the development of a new Kansas state policy on juvenile delinquency illustrates the use of policy impact analysis and suggests four principles to follow in prescriptive policy analysis. A Kansas governor's task force on juvenile delinquency found evidence linking delinquency to undetected health problems (in sight, hearing,…

This discussion of the modules in an experimental computer-aided system for officer career information and planning system (OCIPS) includes the reasons for its development, a description of the seven modules, and the findings of a preliminary test of four of the modules for feasibility and credibility. Initially developed in response to a need…

In their study of the usage demands placed on journal collections in academic libraries, Allen Kent and coauthors have not adequately considered the long-term variability of those demands in their formulation of a cost-benefit model for the management of journal collections. Though resource-sharing and the matching of periodical acquisitions to…

An energy analysis model is provided for college administrators in which information from their utility bills is used to measure the amount of energy saved and to determine the fuel costs avoided when they undertake an energy conservation program. Because the model explicitly takes into account variations in weather, it provides an essential tool…

Cost data were collected from a study on the effectiveness of computer assisted instruction (CAI) for culturally disadvantaged children in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Based upon the resource ingredients approach to measuring costs, it was found that up to three daily 10-minute sessions of drill and practice could be provided for each…

The Schools and Hospital Program, funded through the National Energy Conservation Policy Act, is not an effective use of federal monies when compared to other Department of Energy (DOE) conservation programs. It is among the highest in cost, yet among the lowest in yielding energy savings. This report identifies changes which could increase…

To gauge one component of the cost effectiveness of the National Institute of Education's Research and Development Utilization (RDU) program, researchers compared participating schools' use of direct federal resources with their use of local resources. They also examined the relationship of RDU costs to the program's outcomes at the school level.…

A project assessed educational effectiveness of the Adult Proficiency Level (APL) Pilot Project in Area B of the Indiana Office of Occupational Development. Activities involved design of data collection instrument, sampling and data collection at all six educational classroom sites in Area B, and data analysis. Program strengths identified were…

Community data concerning drug and alcohol usage patterns was assessed via a unique "personal delivery" system. The system, which can be used for collecting other community data produced a return rate of 45% and was very economical. This system largely overcomes the main drawback of the mailed questionnaire (low return rate) by (1) having…

To make training cost-effective for its small systems customers, Digital Equipment Corporation provides self-paced training packages for several years that can be used by its customers on-site. To control the quality of this training, Digital is now incorporating computer managed instruction (CMI) into some of these packages. This CMI component…

The Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Section of the UCLA Biomedical Library was studied in an attempt to develop a methodology for analyzing interlibrary loan associated costs that would be generalizable to other libraries. Other objectives included developing standards of performance to monitor staff productivity and correcting imbalances in the flow of…