Abstract
Presently there is an enormous push on the part of funding agencies to require the gradual implementation of a management system in every social agency that is the recipient of federal funds. This is being done for the purpose of conducting program evaluation, a procedure that is many times used to determine whether or not a program will continue receiving supportive funding. The function of program evaluation is to ascertain the direct effect of any program relative to producing behavioral changes on the part of the clients it services. In order to fulfill this demand, program evaluation must be conducted in a manner that is congruent with the canons of scientific research. This is most certainly the case if the true effects of a program are to be accurately identified and quantified in terms of the actual degree of change that can be attributed to the intervention efforts of that program. At this point, however, a significant question must be raised. Does what is commonly known as a management system possess the qualities that will insure that this type of information can be generated, or does a management system merely serve as a prelude to rigorous research? It is this question that will hopefully be answered in the remainder of this discussion.