Performance measurement and accountability for a research career training program

Methods of economic analysis are used in program evaluation. Cost-effective analysis is an economics method used extensively in program assessment, to compare similar programs for the best use of social resources. When the program is of funded research training, the program context for cost-effective analysis is different. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) fund biomedical and behavioral research training, at extramural institutions. The effectiveness from training is produced by academic institutions and academic health centers, and not by the NIH. The applicability of cost-effective analyses for this program was a curiosity, to see what it would add to program evaluation. This study investigates the usefulness of applying cost-effective analysis to evaluate this research training program, which is a strategic program. The analytic method is applied to compare the funding mechanisms of this program. It was presumed that information from such an application could serve the purpose of performance measurement of the funding mechanisms, as an indicator of transparency for greater accountability in the use of public resources, and as an evaluation method for improving a strategically needed program.