ERIC Number: ED273405
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1985-Aug
Pages: 37
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
A Conceptual and Analytic Framework for Doing Applied, Policy Relevant Rural Sociology.
Miller, Michael K.
This report for researchers in rural sociology develops a conceptual and analytic framework for evaluating policies or programs through interrelated models. Three models--structural analysis, control programming, and simulation--allow researchers to assess policy/program impact, determine why expected impacts did or did not occur, and modify policies and programs incrementally at different stages of implementation. The interrelated models incorporate target objectives of a policy/program, policy manipulable variables, nonmanipulable aggregate and structural variables,and a set of parameters relating the categories or variables. The report explores ways in which the structural equation model fits into policy/program research and discusses both instruments-targets and social welfare approaches to control programming in order to determine the values or settings of policy manipulable variables. The report presents advantages of policy simulation for specifying a system of relationships central to a given policy area and for estimating relevant parameters under varying sets of assumptions. The interrelationship of the three evaluation models is explored and the ongoing nature of policy decision processes is emphasized. Figures illustrate model structure and outline the policy evaluation process. (LFL)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Researchers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A