A report on conditions and care of mental health patients in the United States, with details on attempts to alleviate the dilemmas faced by large public mental hospitals in different parts of the country.

Otto von Mering, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh

Stanley H. King, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh

A report on the adoption of the Transportation Agreement, with contributions from Alexander M. Wilson, assistant director of the Department of Public Health and Charities of Philadelphia; Mabel Tibbot, overseer of the poor, Fort Dodge, Iowa; George S. Wilson, secretary of the Board of Charities, District of Columbia; and the State Board of Charities of Missouri, in a “Letter of Advice to County Courts.”

A look at athletic exercises promoted by the Girls’ Branch of the Public Schools Athletic League, including folk dancing, relays, and athletic competitions. From the Playground Association Committee of America.

Proving that any program designed to change our social behavior is doing what it set out to do is one of the most difficult problems faced by social science. Yet those responsible for such a program must attempt an evaluation of its results if they are to achieve the support they need. Edward A. Suchman, one of the world's foremost experts in measuring social behavior, presents the most comprehensive study of evaluation available to date.

In Evaluative Research he describes the techniques used to determine empirically the extent to which social goals are actually being achieved, to locate the barriers to the achievement of these goals, and to discover the unanticipated consequences of social actions.

The book is divided into three main sections, representing the conceptual, the methodological, and the administrative aspects of evaluation. It begins with a brief historical account and a general critique of the current status of evaluation studies. The introduction is followed by a conceptual analysis of the evaluative process, including a discussion of different levels of objectives. The methodological section includes an analysis of various research designs applicable to evaluative research. The place of evaluation in the administrative process is related to program planning, demonstration, and operation. Administrative resistance and barriers to evaluation are examined along with the problems in the utilization of the findings.

The book concludes with a brief exposition on the relationship of evaluative research to social experimentation stressing the potential contribution which public service and social action programs can make to our knowledge of administrative science and social change.

This book will have many uses. It will aid the evaluative research person in striking a balance between rigorous method and the situation in which he must function. For the operating practitioner, the book will explain what competent evaluation involves. Administrators will find the volume and invaluable aid.

An exploration of settlements throughout the United States, in particular non-residential neighborhood centers, covering a range of interests, including history, educational approaches, and connections to labor.

ROBERT A. WOODS, New York Charities Publication Committee

ALBERT J. KENNEDY, New York Charities Publication Committee

This book examines the work of early-twentieth century charity organizations, in particular those in urban environments.

Mary E. Richmond was the author of “Friendly Visiting Among the Poor,” general secretary of the Philadelphia Society for Organizing Charity

The organization and methods of relief used after the earthquake and fire of April 18, 1906, compiled from studies by Charles J. O’Connor, Francis H. McLean, Helen Swett Artieda, James Marvin Motley, Jessica Peixotto, and Mary Roberts Coolidge, offering a book of ready reference for use on occasions of special emergency.

A survey of public schools conducted by the Department of Education of the Russell Sage Foundation under the direction of Leonard P. Ayres. Part of the Springfield Survey.

A survey by the Department of Surveys and Exhibits, Russell Sage Foundation, the result of field investigations on vital statistics carried out between March and May, 1914, supplemented by co-operative efforts by city and state officials and local volunteer workers.

FRANZ SCHNEIDER, JR. was sanitarian at the Department of Surveys and Exhibits of the Russell Sage Foundation.

Report to the Chicago Woman’s Club, The Chicago Association of Collegiate Alumnae and the Woman’s City Club

Contributors: Sophonisba P. Breckinridge and Edith Abbott, directors of the Department of Social Investigation, the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy, and Anne S. Davis, special investigator for the Chicago Woman’s Club, the Chicago Association of Collegiate Alumnae, and the Woman’s City Club