These GAO documents can be read online or downloaded (as .pdf files with Adobe Acrobat) from GAO’s Web site at https://www.gao.gov.

GAO GUIDES AND METHODS PAPERS

  • Case Study Evaluations, GAO/PEMD-10.1.9, November 1990.
  • Designing Evaluations: 2012 Revision, GAO-12-208G, January 2012.
  • Fragmentation, Overlap and Duplication: An Evaluation and Management Guide, April 2015. https://www.gao.gov/framework_duplication/overview
  • How to Get Action on Audit Recommendations, OP-9.2.1, July 1, 1991.
  • Information Management: Assessing the Reliability of Computer-Processed Data, July 2009. https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-680G
  • Performance Measurement and Evaluation: Definitions and Relationships, GAO-11-646SP, May 2011.
  • Prospective Evaluation Methods: The Prospective Evaluation Synthesis, GAO/PEMD-10.1.10, November 1990.
  • Record Linkage and Privacy: Issues in Creating New Federal Research and Statistical Information, GAO-01-126SP, April 2001. (172 pages)
  • The Evaluation Synthesis, rev. ed., GAO/PEMD-10.1.2, March 1992.
  • The Results Act: An Evaluator’s Guide to Assessing Agency Annual Performance Plans, version 1, GAO/GGD-10.1.20, April 1998.

GAO REPORTS 

  • Program Evaluation: Annual Agency-Wide Plans Could Enhance Leadership Support for Program Evaluations, GAO-17-743, Sept. 29, 2017.
  • Managing for Results: Further Progress Made in Implementing the GPRA Modernization Act, but Additional Actions Needed to Address Pressing Governance Challenges, GAO-17-775, Sept. 29, 2017.
  • Foreign Assistance: Agencies Can Improve the Quality and Dissemination of Program Evaluations, GAO-17-316, Mar. 30, 2017.
  • Foreign Assistance: Selected Agencies’ Monitoring and Evaluation Policies Generally Address Leading Practices, GAO-16-861R. Sept. 27, 2016.
  • Managing for Results: Implementation of GPRA Modernization Act Has Yielded Mixed Progress in Addressing Pressing Governance Challenges, GAO-15-81, Sep. 30, 2015.
  • Program Evaluation: Some Agencies Reported that Networking, Hiring, and Involving Program Staff Help Build Capacity. GAO-15-25, Nov 13, 2014.
  • Program Evaluation: Strategies to Facilitate Agencies’ Use of Evaluation in Program Management and Policy Making, GAO-13-570, June 26, 2013
  • Managing for Results: Executive Branch Should More Fully Implement the GPRA Modernization Act to Address Pressing Governance Challenges, 
    GAO-13-518    , June 26, 2013
  • Program Evaluation: Experienced Agencies Follow a Similar Model for Prioritizing Research, GAO-11-176, Jan. 14, 2011.
  • Employment and Training Administration: Increased Authority and Accountability Could Improve Research Program, GAO-10-243, Jan. 29, 2010.
  • Program Evaluation: A Variety of Rigorous Methods Can Help Identify Effective Interventions, GAO-10-30, Nov. 23, 2009.
  • Highway Safety: Foresight Issues Challenge DOT’s Efforts to Assess and Respond to New Technology-Based Trends, GAO-09-56, Oct. 3, 2008.
  • Estimating the Undocumented Population: A “Grouped Answers” Approach to Surveying Foreign-Born Respondents, GAO-06-775, Sept. 29, 2006.
  • Program Evaluation: OMB’s PART Reviews Increased Agencies’ Attention to Improving Evidence of Program Results, GAO-06-67, Oct. 28, 2005.
  • Performance Budgeting: PART Focuses Attention on Program Performance, but More Can Be Done to Engage Congress, GAO-06-28, Oct. 28, 2005.
  • VA Patient Safety Program: A Cultural Perspective at Four Medical Facilities, GAO-05-83, Dec. 15, 2004.
  • Performance Budgeting: Observations on the Use of OMB’s Program Assessment Rating Tool for the Fiscal Year 2004 Budget, GAO-04-174, Jan. 30, 2004.
  • Program Evaluation: An Evaluation Culture and Collaborative Partnerships Help Build Agency Capacity, GAO-03-454, May 2, 2003.
  • Federal Programs: Ethnographic Studies Can Inform Agencies’ Actions, GAO-03-455, Mar. 31, 2003.
  • Program Evaluation: Strategies for Assessing How Information Dissemination Contributes to Agency Goals, GAO-02-923, Sept. 30, 2002.
  • Program Evaluation: Studies Helped Agencies Measure or Explain Program Performance, GAO/GGD-00-204, Sept. 29, 2000.
  • Managing for Results: Views on Ensuring the Usefulness of Agency Performance Information to Congress, GAO/GGD-00-35, Jan. 26, 2000.
  • Performance Plans: Selected Approaches for Verification and Validation of Agency Performance Information, GAO/GGD-99-139, July 30, 1999.
  • Managing for Results: Measuring Program Results That Are Under Limited Federal Control, GAO/GGD-99-16, Dec. 11, 1998.
  • Grant Programs: Design Features Shape Flexibility, Accountability, and Performance Information, GAO/GGD-98-137, June 22, 1998.
  • Program Evaluation: Agencies Challenged by New Demand for Information on Program Results, GAO/GGD-98-53, Apr. 24, 1998. The results of GAO’s survey on roles and resources available for federal program evaluation and the characteristics of evaluation studies conducted.
  • Managing for Results: Analytic Challenges in Measuring Performance, GAO/HEHS/GGD-97-138, May 30, 1997.
  • Block Grants: Issues in Designing Accountability Provisions, GAO/AIMD-95-226, Sept. 1995.
  • Program Evaluation: Improving the Flow of Information to the Congress, GAO/PEMD-95-1, Jan. 30, 1995.
  • Cross Design Synthesis: A New Strategy for Medical Effectiveness Research,GAO/PEMD-92-18, Mar. 17, 1992.
  • Children’s Programs: A Comparative Evaluation Framework and Five Illustrations, GAO/PEMD-88-28BR, Aug. 31, 1988.