Publication:
Evaluation and Research in Social Policy

dc.contributor.author Saunders, Peter en_US
dc.contributor.author Fine, Michael en_US
dc.date.accessioned 2021-11-25T12:33:43Z
dc.date.available 2021-11-25T12:33:43Z
dc.date.issued 1995 en_US
dc.description.abstract Evaluation has become part of the fabric of policy-related research in Australia. Program evaluation is now an in-built feature of all Commonwealth programs and is integral to the Financial Management Improvement Program (FMIP) introduced in 1987. This growth in the importance and significance of evaluation reflects the increased interest in ensuring that public programs are appropriate, efficient and effective. This paper explores how the ‘new age’ of evaluation might influence the development of policy and, more particularly, how it has affected the nature of the work of the Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC). Following a discussion of the definitions of evaluation, of other policy-related research, and of evaluative research, changes in the program of research undertaken in the SPRC over the last five years are described and the question of how the emphasis on evaluations has affected the broader profile of research and funding of the body of research undertaken at the Centre is considered. Following this, a number of examples of SPRC research in the fields of social security and community support which illustrate the nature of its contribution to the evaluation of government social programs are reviewed. Drawing on this evidence, it is argued that despite the emphasis placed on evaluation by the Department of Finance and other bodies, the approach is likely to remain only a limited part of the policy process. Other forms of research will undoubtedly continue to complement the contribution made by evaluative research, but these activities, too, are also unlikely to dominate the formulation and implementation of policy. en_US
dc.identifier.isbn 0733412831 en_US
dc.identifier.issn 1447-8978 en_US
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/33984
dc.language English
dc.language.iso EN en_US
dc.publisher Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW en_US
dc.relation.ispartofseries SPRC Discussion Paper en_US
dc.rights CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 en_US
dc.rights.uri https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/ en_US
dc.source Legacy MARC en_US
dc.title Evaluation and Research in Social Policy en_US
dc.type Working Paper en
dcterms.accessRights open access
dspace.entity.type Publication en_US
unsw.accessRights.uri https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
unsw.identifier.doi https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/191
unsw.publisher.place Sydney en_US
unsw.relation.faculty Arts Design & Architecture
unsw.relation.ispartofworkingpapernumber 62 en_US
unsw.relation.originalPublicationAffiliation Saunders, Peter, Social Policy Research Centre, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, UNSW en_US
unsw.relation.originalPublicationAffiliation Fine, Michael, Social Policy Research Centre, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, UNSW en_US
unsw.relation.school Social Policy Research Centre *
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