Background: Evidence from new health technologies is growing, along with demands for evidence to inform policy decisions, creating challenges in completing health technology assessments (HTAs)/systematic reviews (SRs) in a timely manner. Software can decrease the time and burden by automating the process, but evidence validating such software is…

Social annotation and role-play are two pedagogical approaches that promote active, student-centred learning. In this paper, we report on how the two approaches were combined in a senior-level university course that aimed to reveal the multiple dimensions and complexity of policy development and decision-making for natural resource management. We…

The chapter explores critical roles of internal evaluators in contemporary organizational settings. The need is highlighted for an expanded, reconfigured, unorthodox set of roles and styles of work to meet the needs of the emerging learning organizations effectively. A discussion of major categories of internal evaluator roles emerged from the…

In March 2009, the RAND Frederick S. Pardee Center for Longer Range Global Policy and the Future Human Condition hosted a workshop called "Shaping Tomorrow Today: Near-Term Steps Towards Long-Term Goals." The workshop gave policymakers and analysts an opportunity to explore new methods and tools that can help improve long-term decisionmaking. The…

While the intent of democratic evaluation of educational programs--to address unequal power relationships between clients, sponsors, and evaluators--is correct, it is not democratic in substance because it cannot accept as legitimate that which it wishes to change. It reaffirms the status quo. (IS)

Concentrates on building a conceptual framework for policy research that would provide more useful information to policymakers. Examines four different policy instruments and specifies key relationships among them. (RB)

Discusses the strategies used to integrate evaluation research into the management of an organization. Also discusses the methodologies and managerial problems encountered in using evaluation research to change the policymaking procedures of public agencies. (RB)

Differing views about the success evaluators have had in improving programs directly are contrasted. It is suggested that evaluation, even when decisions are not based directly on evaluation outcomes, should represent continuing education for program managers, planners, and policy makers with probable impact in the future. (SLD)

Discusses various approaches to incremental analysis and distinguishes incremental analysis from incremental politics and incremental politics from partisan mutual adjustment. (IRT)

The purpose of this paper is to propose a new, synthetic paradigm for debate analysis and decision making that features the policy systems approach within a context of values as boundaries for decision. As background for the proposed theory, the paper (1) summarizes the notions of paradigm formation and shifts initially presented by T. Kuhn; (2)…

Policy Implications Analysis (PIA) is a tool designed to maximize the likelihood that an evaluation report will have an impact on decision-making. PIA was designed to help people planning and conducting evaluations tailor their information so that it has optimal potential for being used and acted upon. This paper describes the development and…

The traditional "test and measurement" approach to educational evaluation is contrasted with the "use of information for decision-making" developed in the industrial sector. Evaluation strategy should be determined by an analysis of the problem and the decisions to be made. (Author/LBH)

Examined is the utility of evaluation research as a framework for converting raw data into a form that is useful to the decisionmaker. The origins and purposes of evaluation research and the relationship between the evaluator and decisionmaker are examined, and some of the major issues in evaluation research methodology are reviewed. The role of…

Drawing upon the perspective of the policy sciences and a cross-disciplinary background, the author presents an integrated model of information-producing research activities that feed into various parts of the decision-making process. This model incorporates evaluation, needs assessments, policy analysis, training and technical assistance, and…