How to build reliable evidence and inform policy: Lessons from 40 years of welfare research

Welfare is often touted as the area where rigorous social science research has been most sustained and has had the clearest impact on policy. Roundtable panelists will reflect on the history of this research, discussing questions including: Why were randomized experiments sustained over 40 years? What questions did this research answer well? How did the research inform and influence legislation, policy, and practice at the national and state levels? To what extent are lessons relevant to social policy research today and to other fields? What can be done to promote such rigorous research? Rebecca Maynard (University of Pennsylvania) will moderate this session, and Mark Greenberg (Administration for Children and Families) will serve as a discussant. Panelists are:

• Howard Rolston (Abt Associates)

• Judith Gueron (Independent Scholar)

• Ron Haskins (The Brookings Institution)

• Don Winstead (Don Winstead Consulting, LLC) (conference program description)

This presentation was given at the 2014 Welfare Research and Evaluation Conference (WREC).