The Social Value of New Technology

New technologies, with their practical contributions, provide social value. The chapters in this volume view this social value from a program evaluation perspective, and the focus of the evaluations is the generation of new technology funded by public sector agencies. Through keen and approachable analysis, the authors provide important background on both methodology and application.

Link and Scott have assembled a collection of their seminal works on the social value of new technology. The first paper provides a general, hands-on overview of the theory and practice of program evaluation, while remaining chapters go on to focus on a number of public sector programs ranging from the U.S. Department of Defense Small Business Innovation Research program to Canada’s programs to support the development of medical imaging technology. The authors demonstrate that this area of research is relevant not only to established scholars and practitioners, but also to students.

This book will serve as a valuable resource to academic researchers and graduate students in public administration, public policy, and economics, as well as practitioners in the evaluation field.