The Evaluation of Organizational Policy Making: A Political Model

Abstract

An eminent policy analyst has suggested tha t all scientific knowledge be categorized into three levels: knowledge relevant to the control of the physical environment, knowledge relevant to the control of society and individuals, and knowledge relevant to the nature of the controls themselves (Dror, 1971). Knowledge is most advanced in the first level (the physical sciences), much less so in the second (the social sciences), and scarcely developed at all in the third (the "policy sciences,,). With the emergence of what Dror has called "controlling man, " vast stores of information are available for potential use in exerting control upon the physical or social environment; in contrast, little information is available to help determine the focus and direction of such control. Present scientific knowledge should not be expected to supply new values and belief systems; such would be outside its realm. But science can and should be able to supply better, more systematic infor mation concerning preferable alternatives for the probable con sequences of environmental control decisions (Campbell, 1972; Coleman, 1972). The emerging field of evaluation research has been entrusted with just such a responsibility. That is, in the process of design ing and collecting data relevant to the judgment of the worth of a social program or its components, the evaluator is responsible— The assistance of Professor Larry A. Braskamp, who directed the author's dissertation on this topic, is gratefully acknowledged.

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