Use of Administrative Records for Program Evaluation

• In Event: 1523 - Practice Symposium Roundtables
  In Informal Discussion Roundtable: Table 7: Using Sociology in Program Evaluation

Abstract

Empirically assessing the impact of programs and services on the public they are intended to serve is an important check on the effective use of public resources. The aim of this discussion is to help audience members address methodological challenges associated with program evaluation, with a particular focus on non-response bias in surveys of program outcomes, and practical constraints on randomizing public services between treatment and control groups. To overcome these and other issues, we used administrative data and propensity score matching to measure the extent to which Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) programming met the intended workforce training goals for a group of eleven community colleges in Ohio. The scope of this discussion includes administrative data access considerations, details of our analytic strategy, and exploration of continuing methodological limitations and challenges for program evaluations.

Author

• Lisa A. Neilson, Ohio State University