Abstract:

This paper deals with a major piece of policy relevant social science research, the New Jersey Income Maintenance Experiment, and a proposed piece of social legislation, the Family Assistance Plan. An attempt is made to assess the usefulness of the experiment to Administration and Congressional political decision-makers during deliberations over the legislation. The channels of communication between the researchers and the decision-makers are elaborated; the relevance of the research to the concerns of the decision-makers is described; and the impact of the research on these decision-makers is evaluated.