OVERCOMING OBSTACLES TO PROGRAM EVALUATION IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT

This article is based on five applied local government program evaluation studies carried out in the spirit of the work done by Harry Hatry and others at the Urban Institute. Problem areas identified include the attitudes and skills of local government personnel, the lack of appropriate local government resources, the absence of incentives for local governments to conduct evaluations, and the methodological difficulties encountered in conducting research in an action setting. The article ends with a discussion of the unique role academically based evaluations can play in overcoming obstacles.