Reality and Research Social Science and U.S. Urban Policy Since 1960

Confidence was at its highest in the 1960s that governments could solve many of the country's urban problems by commissioning social science studies and being guided by their findings. Here 11 studies critically evaluate the three decades of such policy analysis in a wide range of urban policy arenas, including community development, transportation and land use, education, housing, family support and social welfare, drugs, and racial discrimination. They find mixed results in different areas: sometimes the system worked wonderfully, sometimes the studies were excellent but ignored, and sometimes the studies were conducted merely to support policy adopted for other reasons. No index. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR