OES is an interdisciplinary team that works across the federal government to help agencies build and use evidence. OES partners with federal agencies to answer priority questions with rigorous evaluation methods and administrative data. We design and conduct evaluations of existing programs and evidence-based program changes. We partner with agencies across government to provide the following services:

Impact evaluation of a program change

OES designs an evidence-based program change, usually to address a behavioral barrier, and conducts an evaluation of it to measure impact.

Recent examples

Using incentives to reduce nonresponse bias in the American Housing Survey

Targeting incentives increased the response rate but did not decrease nonresponse bias

Read more about Using incentives to reduce nonresponse bias in the American Housing Survey

Increasing participation in Ticket to Work through redesigned mailers

Redesigned mailings did not increase Ticket assignments, but had a small impact on Helpline calls

Read more about Increasing participation in Ticket to Work through redesigned mailers

Incorporating evaluation into digital forms

Five GSA offices and the American public worked together to improve federal forms

Read more about Incorporating evaluation into digital forms

Impact evaluation of a program

OES designs and conducts an evaluation to measure the impact of a new or existing program.

Recent examples

Project SOAR

Education navigation program did not change FAFSA completion

Read more about Project SOAR

Evaluation of San Diego Small Business Relief Fund

A selection on observables analysis was unable to determine the effect of funding for small businesses on business outcomes during the pandemic

Read more about Evaluation of San Diego Small Business Relief Fund

Dallas small business continuity fund impact evaluation

Analysis of a pre-existing lottery for small business grants and loans was unable to determine impact on business resilience

Read more about Dallas small business continuity fund impact evaluation

Descriptive study

OES designs and conducts a descriptive study using administrative data. Descriptive studies seek to document and understand a phenomenon, program, or process, which could include some set of features of a program or its intended recipients, without measuring effectiveness.

Recent examples

Describing candidate assessments and hiring outcomes at DOI

Exploring means and proportions of recruitment success, time-to-hire, and candidate characteristics for hiring efforts at the Department of the Interior

Read more about Describing candidate assessments and hiring outcomes at DOI

Understanding and improving Tribal governments’ and non-entitlement units’ experiences with the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program

Read more about Understanding and improving Tribal governments’ and non-entitlement units’ experiences with the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program

Describing the allocation of COVID-19 relief funds to financial institutions

Relief funds were awarded to financial institutions that serve low- and moderate-income and minority communities

Read more about Describing the allocation of COVID-19 relief funds to financial institutions

Become an Agency Partner

OES helps agencies build and use evidence to learn what works. First, we look to our agency partners to identify priority areas where they would like to see improved outcomes. Next, we work closely together to learn how people process information, make decisions, and interact with government programs.

Building blocks for OES collaborations

The building blocks below describe required components for OES collaborations, and were developed with an aim to guide team decision making and prioritization for new and ongoing projects.

• Support: An agency collaborator willing to act on and share results and other key deliverables
• Data availability: Data for the study is currently collected (or could be easily collected) by the federal agency
• Rigor: Sample size large enough for statistical power and policy relevance
• Relevance: Answers a priority question and fills an important evidence gap
• Evidence-based: Program or program change has a plausible and clear theory of change with potential for impact on a priority outcome

If this sounds like you, please get in touch! We’re excited to work with agency partners across government. Learn more about working with the Office of Evaluation Sciences, our service offerings, and criteria for collaborations.

Email us at oes@gsa.gov to start the conversation. We do not have the ability to respond to all collaboration proposals, but we consider each opportunity carefully. We look forward to hearing from you!