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III. E. EVALUATI C OFH PRO0GWA
The crucial phase in the analysis of the America House program,
as in any other Public Affairs activity, is the evaluation of the
program's, effectiveness. Is it reaching the people? How many people
are contacted? How frequently are they reached? What types of people
are reached? Why do they come to the America Houses? And finally,
the difficult question: What effect do the America Houses have on
their audiences?
To answer these questions, this report has relied primarily on
studies made by the Evaluation Staff of HICOG. The field work for
these studies was conducted by contract with a German public opinion
research group. To obtain certain information not covered by the
Evaluation Staff studies, special and direct inquiries were made of
America House audiences.
The remainder of this section, unless otherwise noted, is a
sunnary of the findings of the Evaluation Staff.
Who Are in the America House Audience
"The influential, leadership elements in the service area popu-
lation are strongly represented in the America House audience, parti _
cularly within the group designated as the frequent audience in
this report."
Sixty per cent of the university-trained people visited an America
House during the past year. Forty-seven per cent of this group are
fairly regular visitors, 25 per cent are frequent visitors.
Forty per cent of the visitors have attended higher schools; of
these 30 per cent are regular visitors.
Thirty-three per cent of the people with secondary schooling
attend; of these 20 per cent are frequent visitors.
Thirteen per cent of the people with eleumntary schooling attend;
of these 50 per cent visit fairly often.
In the area served by the America Houses, over half of the pro-
fessional people, that is, doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, etc.,
are visitors. A fifth of these are in the frequent audience. Clerical
workers and students also come in proportionately large numbers.
Businessmen and laborers are less likely to visit the Centers.
1
"Frequent" describes an individual who visits an America House
7 or more
times a year.
2
From "The America House Evalua-ted", Evaluation Staff, Office of
Public
Affairs, HICOG, July 17, 1953.
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