How can you measure the impact of a law? The Obama administration, for example, recently called for an “evidence-based” approach to the writing of laws and policies that affect the public’s health in matters of drug abuse. But applying the scientific method to an evaluation of a law’s impact requires a rigorous approach to measurement. In “Measuring Law for Public HealthEvaluation Research,” published in the June 2010 Evaluation Review, Charles Tremper, Sue Thomas and Alexander C. Wagenaar provide researchers good guidance for legal researchers.
The authors write that in order to measure effectively the effectiveness of a law, one must “focus on the “is” rather than the “ought” ” of the legal environment, taking such into account such variables such as enforcement policies, financial appropriations and even the simple question of law’s effective date. The suggestions and procedures offered in this paper will improve “the utility and accuracy of research that uses legal data, ultimately improving public policy and its effectiveness in achieving important goals in advancing population health and well-being,” the authors conclude. “By blending the knowledge and skills of social scientists with that of legal experts, scholars can produce more accurate and more useful policy evaluations.”
Tremper, C., Thomas, S., & Wagenaar, A. (2010). Measuring Law for Evaluation Research Evaluation Review, 34 (3), 242-266 DOI: 10.1177/0193841X10370018
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