Revolutions in Evaluation and Welfare

• Published date: 01 September 2014
• Author: Lawrence M. Mead
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12265
• Date: 01 September 2014

Book Reviews 667

Sonia M. Ospina and Rogan Kersh, Editors

occurred amid the nation’s struggle to reform welfare,

in which they played central roles.  e story stretches

over 40 years.  is remarkable book is a must-read

for anyone who is interested in evaluation or national

social policy.

Random Assignment

Evaluators had long recognized that the experimen-

tal design produces the best estimate of a program’s

actual ef‌f ects.  is is because it guarantees that the

treatment and control groups will not dif‌f er in any

important way. In lesser evaluation designs, we are

less sure of this.  e alternative to an experiment,

based on random assignment, is often a “quasi-

experiment,” in which the clients served are matched

against a “comparison group” of people from outside

Judith M. Gueron and Howard Rolston, Fighting

for Reliable Evidence (New York: Russell Sage

Foundation, 2013). 575 pp. $49.95 (paper),

ISBN: 9780871544933.

In the 1980s and 1990s, a revolution rolled

through national evaluation policy. Norms

changed so that major evaluations of social pro-

grams had to use an experimental methodology.  at

is, outcomes for clients receiving the program were

to be compared to those for a control group—and

applicants should be allocated randomly between the

two groups. Judith M. Gueron and Howard Rolston

were the chief architects of this sea change. In Fighting

for Reliable Evidence, they give their own f‌i rsthand

account of how it happened. Much of that drama

Revolutions in Evaluation and Welfare

Sonia M. Ospina and Rogan Kersh, Editors

Lawrence M. Mead

New York University

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 75, Iss. 4, pp. 667–671. © 2014 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.12265.

Lawrence M. Mead is professor of

politics and public policy at New York

University. He is a leading expert on poverty

and welfare reform in America and other

rich countries. Among academics, he was a

principal exponent of work requirements in

welfare, the approach that now dominates

national policy. He is also a leading scholar

of the politics and implementation of wel-

fare reform and work programs for men.

E-mail: lmm1@nyu.edu