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Issues in Measuring the Performance of Public Organizations

NCJ Number
88442
Journal
Journal of Public and International Affairs Volume: 2 Issue: 2 Dated: (Spring/Summer 1981) Pages: 122-136
Author(s)
G A Grizzle; A D Witte
Date Published
1981
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Using the adult corrections system as an example, this study suggests ways to measure the performance of public organizations, which have multiple constituencies with conflicting goals and conflicting possible outcomes.
Abstract
Evaluations of public performance should contain multiple measures, including those important to major constituencies and those most frequently mentioned by these groups. An alternative would be to assign relative weights to each measure and aggregate them to a single index; multiattribute utility theory and social judgment theory are two methods of achieving this. Because the adult corrections process is poorly understood, it may be most appropriately measured through techniques, such as causal diagramming, developed by operations scientists instead of the more quantitative methods of engineers and economists. The statistical control technique should be used to determine an organization's ultimate effect when better or alternate designs are not possible. It requires a statistical model for performance measure and a statistical technique appropriate for controlling variables. The paper gives an example of this procedure and presents a causal diagram for prison custodial services. Twenty-one reference notes are appended.