Social Science and Policy-Making

by Featherman, David L.

• ISBN13: 9780472067695
• ISBN10: 0472067699
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-05-07
• Publisher: Univ of Michigan Pr

Summary

This collection of essays examines how the social sciences in America were developed as a means of social reform and later, especially after World War II, as a tool in federal policymaking and policy analysis. It also uses arenas of policymaking, such as early childhood education and welfare and its reform, as case studies in which social research was used, in policy decisions or in setting and evaluating policy goals. The book is written to aid students of public policy to appreciate the complex relationship of information--principally, of social science research--to policymaking at the federal level.David L. Featherman is Professor of Sociology and Psychology, Director and Senior Research Scientist, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan. Maris A. Vinovskis is Bentley Professor of History, Senior Research Scientist, Institute for Social Research, Faculty member, School of Public Policy, University of Michigan.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
In Search of Relevance to Social Reform and Policy-Making	1	(15)
David L. Featherman
Maris A. Vinovskis
Knowledge for the Public Good: The Emergence of Social Sciences and Social Reform in Late-Nineteenth-and Early-Twentieth-Century America, 1880-1940	16	(24)
Martin Bulmer
Growth and Use of Social and Behavioral Science in the Federal Government since World War II	40	(43)
David L. Featherman
Maris A. Vinovskis
Designing Head Start: Roles Played by Developmental Psychologists	83	(36)
Sheldon H. White
Deborah A. Phillips
Policy, Aging, and the Graying of Society	119	(18)
W. Andrew Achenbaum
Welfare Reform Policy from Nixon to Clinton: What Role for Social Science?	137	(28)
Sheldon Danziger
Welfare Reform at the State Level: The Role of Social Experiments and Demonstrations	165	(22)
Judith M. Gueron
The Making and Analysis of Public Policy: A Perspective on the Role of Social Science	187	(32)
Laurence E. Lynn Jr.
Contributors	219	(2)
Index	221