The Russell Sage Foundation has just published Fighting for Reliable Evidence by Judith M. Gueron, past president of MDRC, and Howard Rolston. It describes the remarkable four-decade effort to develop and use rigorous evidence from random assignment studies — the same methodology used in medical clinical trials — to improve social policy, focusing particularly on the body of welfare studies led by MDRC. 

Forty years ago, it was an open question whether it was possible to get reliable evidence about the effectiveness of social and education programs. Could rigorous experiments be done in the real world? Would decisionmakers be able to distinguish high-quality evidence from hype? In the high-stakes politics of antipoverty policymaking, would rigorous evidence be privileged — or treated as just another form of advocacy? Could evidence really make a difference in policy and practice? 

The book tells a story of scientific and policy innovation in which allies emerge in unexpected places, of social innovators in foundations seeking to leverage change, of civil servants determined to maintain momentum when a new administration takes over in Washington, of state officials who joined a risky endeavor to find out if their own reform efforts paid off, of researchers who pioneered a new method before it became fashionable, and of advocates who saw rigorous evidence as ultimately serving their own constituencies. 

While the social programs described in the book produced modest effects, they were nevertheless transformative. Modest effects across more than a million people equaled large cumulative effects; programs sometimes paid back more than they cost to government budgets and taxpayers, a rare accomplishment; and this evidence of effectiveness led directly to systemic changes in welfare systems throughout the developed world, changes based predominantly on evidence rather than anecdote. In addition, they set the stage for the more widespread adoption of rigorous methods to evaluate the effectiveness of a wide range of education and social programs that we see today. 

“As MDRC recognizes its 40^th anniversary in 2014, we celebrate the important legacy that Judy and Howard recount,” said Gordon L. Berlin, President of MDRC. “We remain committed to developing the most reliable evidence possible on what works to improve the lives of millions of low-income children, adults, and families.” 

Visit the Russell Sage Foundation Web site for more information and to order the book.