ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF POPULATION POLICIES AND DYNAMICS : INTERDISCIPLINARY COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAM - THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION (JULY 1974)

Under the contract, the ICP establshd the Internatnl Progrm for Populatn Analysis (IPPA) to adminstr the scope of work. Of the 20 satisfactory work agreemnts in force, high-level policy-makers from all continents have expressed particulr interest in 18. Future rsrch proposls should be handled with more attention to cross-nationl or comparatve issued such as the impact of family planning progrms on fertility, determinants of fertility in which several key variables are simultaneously treated, administrative variables, & communication & motivation. While transferral of rsrch findngs to policy makers through the Populatn Dynamics Quarterly (PDQ) & through workshps & conferences is satisfactory, improvmnts such as more intensive concentratn of PDQ on formulatn of populatn policy in LDC's should make the publicatn more relevnt. Conferences & workshps should be led by more highly qualified scholars & professionls. Rsrch also should be carried out by experts instead of inexperienced young scholars. The 20 work agreemnts were only 2/3 of what had been anticipatd in the contract. Shortfall occurred because of gradual projct momentum & bureaucratc time lag between receipt of proposl & final signing. Less time should be spent with unacceptable proposls. PHA/POP must make clear to USAID's that they should review proposls only on grounds of politcl sensitivty & fitness with AID country priorities. Subcontracts should be sent to the AID Contracts Office only when the Smithsonian Contracts Office seeks advice on specifc provisns. A panel with social scientists has been formed to review individl proposls. An Advisory Committee, lacking suffic social scientists, was named 9 months after the start of the contract. It met at the end of the first & second years of the contract. A brochure with a progrm descriptn will be reissued to inform persons & instits not reached in previous mailings. It will contain an explicit explanation of new research priorities.