POLICYMAKERS AND SOCIAL PLANNERS AT ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT ARE FACED WITH THE PROBLEM OF EVALUATING THE LARGE NUMBER OF HUMAN SERVICE PROGRAMS THAT COMPETE FOR AVAILABLE RESOURCES. THIS VOLUME REVIEWS FEDERALLY SUPPORTED EVALUATIONS OF SUCH PROGRAMS, INCLUDING EVALUATIONS OF SOCIAL-CHANGE EXPERIMENTS AND RESEARCH-DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS FUNDED BY THE VARIOUS EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. ALTHOUGH EVALUATION STUDIES OF THESE LARGE-SCALE PROGRAMS VARY IN SCOPE, QUALITY, AND UTILITY, ALL PROJECTS INITIATED DURING A FISCAL YEAR ARE EXAMINED IN ORDER TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE METHODS EMPLOYED, THE TYPES OF PERSONS ENGAGED IN SUCH RESEARCH, AND EXPECTATIONS REGARDING THE UTILIZATION OF FINDINGS. DATA ON HIGH AND LOW QUALITY EVALUATIONS ARE PROVIDED, ALONG WITH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RESTRUCTURING THE ENTIRE EVALUATIONS RESEARCH ENTERPRISE IN LIGHT OF THE FINDINGS. APPENDED MATERIALS INCLUDE A LIST OF THE AGENCIES AUDITED, A SURVEY ON EVALUATION STUDIES OF SOCIAL ACTION PROGRAMS, A MATRIX OF CHI SQUARE SIGNIFICANCE TESTS FOR ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN SELECTED INDEPENDENT VARIABLES, AND DATA ON THE AMOUNT OF VARIANCE EXPLAINED BY EACH VARIABLE ON THE INDEXES OF RESEARCH QUALITY. A BIBLIOGRAPHY AND INDEX ARE INCLUDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--KBL)