Embedded Science: Critical Analysis of Abstinence-Only Evaluation Research

Since 1982, more than US$1 billion have been spent through federally sponsored abstinence-only-until-marriage (AOUM) programs, including nearly $800 million between 2001 and 2006, during the presidency of George W. Bush. With this increased funding has come pressure to evaluate the impact of AOUM programs. In 1998, a federally funded evaluation of AOUM programming was commissioned to assess its impact on young people. Because the abstinence policies and the evaluation of their success derive from the federal government, the authors identify the troubling potential of "embedded science." Using a recent example of research in the field of abstinence-only education (Maynard et al., 2005), the authors identify a number of practices and consequences of embedding research science within existing public policy. They find that when evaluation research is overly embedded, it tends to be dominated by political ideologies, information is omitted, and critique is virtually absent.