Using an evaluability assessment to select methods for evaluating state technology development programs: the case of the Georgia Research Alliance

Although increasing attention is being paid to all fields of government program performance, to what extent can the effectiveness of investments in programs involving technology-based economic development be addressed? Questions such as this raise the issue of the evaluability of technology-based economic development programs—the degree to which the particular characteristics of the program affect the ability to provide effective evaluation. This article discusses how an evaluability assessment was conducted of the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA). The article presents the steps involved in conducting an evaluability assessment, including the development of an understanding of the structure and operations of the program, the perspectives of key stakeholders and participants as to potential program impacts and how these might be measured, and the evaluation of technology-based economic development programs in other states. Different methods through which GRA could be evaluated are analyzed and compared.