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The utilization of program evaluation methodology in human service agencies was reviewed from the perspective of organizational contingency theory. Adoption of program evaluation was seen as an innovation which would arouse uncertainty in an organization. A 2 x 2 factorial experiment, with a sample of 37 drug abuse programs, was conducted to test two hypotheses: (1) Group consultations with staff would produce more innovation adoption than private consultations with a program director; (2) on-site consultations with face-to-face interactions would produce more innovation adoption than telephone consultations. Results indicated strong support for the first hypothesis, and more ambiguous support for the second.

To obtain a methodological & topical profile of the current state of policy sciences, a content analysis was performed on 181 randomly selected articles from 9 key social policy journals published from 1975 to 1980, constituting a 12% sample of all articles published. Some type of policy action was proposed in 70% of these articles. Two mutually exclusive types of articles were found: empirical policy research & nonquantitative discursive theoretical studies. About 57% of the sample could not be classified as scientific studies, due to the absence of data in formulating conclusions. In The Policy Sciences as Science, Ronald D. Brunner (Center for Public Policy Research, U of Colorado, Boulder) finds that this evaluation of the policy sciences overemphasizes the importance of rigorous quantitative data & methods & overlooks their limitations. Adjustments to these shortcomings require a broader view of the scope & methods of science. In Toward Credible Policy Inquiry: A Reply to Brunner, Tornatzky, Schneider, & Stevens reply that Brunner's arguments center on epistemological issues alien to their original line of reasoning. Policy formation can be well served by policy sciences only if the latter retain the standards of an empirical science. 3 Tables, 68 References. Modified HA.

Innovation and Social Process: A National Experiment in Implementing Social Technology discusses concerns, design, and methodologies of an experiment that deals with society's perception of innovation. Comprised of 11 chapters, the book first provides an overview of innovation, change, and problems of implementation; social process; and social innovation. The third chapter covers the methods of designing an experiment in organizational innovation, while the fourth chapter tackles participative decision making and innovation, and the fifth chapter tackles organization development and the implem

Experimental Methods for Social Policy Research explains how experimental methods can be used in social policy research to help solve contemporary human problems and to preserve and improve the world's physical and social climates. This book argues that scientists can make a major contribution to the solution of social problems by aiding the society in incorporating scientific methods into the social decision-making process. Two principal methods required for solving social problems are highlighted: methods for evaluating social models aimed at solving particular problems, and methods for diss