Implications for Policy Design, Delivery, and Evaluation

Abstract

From the perspective of developmental contextualism, policies—and the programs that do (or should) derive from them—merge (or, better, synthesize) basic and applied research. They represent the means through which ecologically valid interventions may be enacted. Evaluation of these interventions provides information, then, both about the adequacy of these “applied” endeavors and about “basic” theoretical issues of human development—about bases for the enhancement of the life courses of individuals, families, and communities (Lerner & Miller, 1993; Lerner, et al., 1994).