Suchergebnisse

This paper provides an overview of trends in the logic of policy inquiry. It compares Harold Lasswell's view of the policy sciences with the applied social science approach articulated by James Coleman and revised into multiplism by Thomas Cook. Alternative approaches presented by Trudi Miller (design science) and Yvonna Lincoln and Egon Cuba (naturalistic inquiry) are also examined. Commonalities existing among them are identified.

This article presents an overview, description, and assessment of the Associative Group Analysis method for studying conceptual development and changes in belief systems. Three specific applications to evaluation research tasks are used to illustrate its potential. AGA is found to be particularly useful when cross-cultural issues, beliefs, integration, and adaptation are at issue. Evaluators are encouraged to explore AGA's utility.

The assumption that bureaucratic rationality and efficiency promote democracy is examined briefly from several theoretical perspectives. The efforts of the new conservativesu1 and new corporatists to impose private sector and business forms on the public sector as a way of achieving greater public sector productivity is reviewed. The contribution of this symposium and its specific articles to understanding the ethical and practical consequences of these efforts is presented.