The Impact of Social Policy
The Impact of Social Policy
Pranab Chatterjee and Diwakar Vadapalli
‘”I·-ere is increasing recognition today that social policies and
programs should be carefully evaluated to determine whether
they do, in fact, meet their stated objectives. Although it has often
been assumed that social policies have a positive impact, this
assumption has been called into question by many critics of
government social programs. This chapter discusses the ways in
which the impact of social policies can be assessed. It describes
the principles and techniques used in different types of
Assessment. Although Assessment research has become increasingly
sophisticated, values and ideologies continue to play an important
role in deciding which policy approaches work best.
___________The logic of impact Analysis
Rossi and Freeman (1985, 1993) and Rossi, Lipsey, and Freeman
(2004) observe that there are four phases of social policy
Assessment. These are needs assessment, selection of a program
to respond to needs, impact Assessment, and cost-benefit analysis.
Upon outlining the four phases of Assessment, they discuss many
experimental, quasi-experimental, and time-series designs that
can be used for program Assessment. Mohr (1995) singled out the
idea of impact Assessment and called it an attempt to isolate the
direct effects of a policy (or, more precisely, a program derived
from a policy) apart from any confounding environmental effects.
Earlier, Suchman (1967) suggested that a program is a form of

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