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About the Study
In 2020, the Chief Evaluation Office funded contractor American Institutes for Research (AIR) to develop and conduct an innovative assessment of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) capacity to generate and use evidence. This initial capacity assessment encompassed 16 DOL agencies and was designed to:
- establish a baseline understanding of the Department’s evidence capacity,
- continue an important dialogue around evidence within the Department,
- inform next steps for improving capacity across the Department, and
- lay the groundwork for future reviews while addressing a requirement of the Evidence Act of 2020.
The assessment drew on a survey that allowed AIR to understand staff’s use and production of evidence when working on policies, programs, and/or operations, separate focus groups with staff and leadership in 28 focus groups conducted between 2020 and 2022.
The assessment findings offer important insights on baseline patterns and opportunities to improve capacity for evidence use and production going forward. Its insights are informing tangible next steps that DOL is taking to build on current strengths and address capacity gaps to support better informed decision-making on policies and program implementation that affect American workers.
AIR will build and improve upon the following initial questions to conduct the capacity assessments.
- To what extent are DOL’s statistics, evaluation, research, and analysis efforts appropriate in terms of coverage, quality, methods, effectiveness and independence?
- To what extent are agencies able to access and use evidence relevant to their work?
- To what extent is evidence used in agencies’ decision-making around policies, procedures, and programs?
- What strengths, challenges and obstacles influence how agencies generate, access, and use evidence in decision-making? How can DOL build upon these strengths, and overcome challenges.
- Department of Labor – Across Agencies: Evidence Capacity Summary (Summary Brief, November 2023)
- Supporting an Evidence-Driven Culture: U.S. Department of Labor’s Evidence Capacity Assessment (Final Report, November 2023)
Project Duration: 44 Months
Contract End Date: January 2023
Contractors: American Institutes for Research (AIR)
For More Information: ChiefEvaluationOffice@dol.gov
The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy and CEO’s research development process.