InfoGuides: POGO 646: Policy & Program Evaluation: Find Program Evaluations

Step 1: Check the Agency Website

Step 1: Check the Agency Website

Go to the website for the agency that runs the program of interest. Locate any evaluations published there.

Tips:

Look for a link to publications, research, performance, or reports
If you don't see a link to a page of reports, try a Google search limited to the agency website
- example: SNAP reports site:.usda.gov

Step 2: Search library databases (see below for suggestions!)

a) Start with the program name in quotation marks.

Example: "earned income tax credit"

b) If you get too many results, or a lot of results aren't evaluations, focus your search like this:

"Program Name" AND (outcome OR effectiv* OR evaluat* OR assess* OR impact)

Databases for any policy area

Academic Search Complete
- This link opens in a new window
Good all-round multidisciplinary search. Option to limit to peer reviewed articles.
ABI/INFORM Collection
Great for the economic or management aspects of most policy areas.

Databases for specific policy areas

Criminal Justice Abstracts
Provides comprehensive coverage of the major journals in criminology and related disciplines, extensive coverage of books, and unparalleled access to reports from government and nongovernmental agencies.Tutorial for the Criminal Justice Abstracts database.
ERIC
Articles & policy documents on education.

Step 3: Mine bibliographies for older evaluations

Check the bibliographies & footnotes of the evaluations you find for additional program evaluations, then find those via library.gmu.edu