THE EVOLUTION OF FEDERAL CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT POLICY

This article traces the emergence of federal citizen involvement policy during the past 34 years which is described as emerging in an incremental and disjointed manner since World War II. The essay summarizes the major stages in this evolution, describes important principles associated with each stage, and identifies 24 elements that constitute an accrued federal citizen involvement policy.     

FIELD NETWORK RESEARCH IN POLICY EVALUATION

The field-network evaluation studies (FNES) approach to policy evaluation research seeks to overcome deficiencies of small-sample case study method and of the large-sample survey research approach. Methodologically, FNES uses many of the familiar techniques of both these approaches interviews, data collection and analysis, limited sampling, field observation, and document analysis. The crucial difference is sample size. The FNES approach using a middle-range sample of 50 to 60 research sites has the advantages of the case study method in being able to provide an in depth account of a program and how it operates, and is sufficiently flexible to permit a shift in the analytical framework as the research proceeds thus overcoming the inflexibility of the instruments of survey research.
Seven major studies employing the FNES approach have been carried out or are underway in the United States of America. The principal components of the methodology are a network of university-based field associates and a central management group. The field associates collect the information and the data using a uniform analytical framework and reporting form. The central staff aggregates these analyses into a single report that cuts across the sample. This approach and the use of a middle-range sample make it possible to draw generalizable conclusions based on the national experience, and also provide sufficient detail to differentiate policy impacts among the sample jurisdictions.     

Liability of manufacturers and providers of health related goods and services: confronting the dilemma.

In this Article, Theodore Cooper, M.D., Assistant Secretary for Health at HEW, contends that the crush of lawsuits brought by aggrieved health care consumers against medical professionals and institutions, and drug and medical equipment manufacturers, may be the result, in large part, of a widely held impression--often encouraged by members of the health professions and industries themselves--that medicine has unlimited powers to heal. Dr. Cooper suggests that those involved in providing health care services and products--and members of the legal profession-have a responsibility to inform the public that this expectation is unrealistic and that everyone suffers when the number of such lawsuits and the size of damage awards are excessive.