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EVALUATING MUNICIPAL POLICY: AN ANALYSIS OF A REFUSE‐PACKAGING PROGRAM 1
Author(s) -
Stokes Trevor F.,
Fawcett Stephen B.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
journal of applied behavior analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1938-3703
pISSN - 0021-8855
DOI - 10.1901/jaba.1977.10-391
Subject(s) - enforcement , sanitation , baseline (sea) , business , environmental health , data collection , transport engineering , operations management , waste management , medicine , engineering , political science , environmental engineering , mathematics , law , statistics
The effect of a municipal enforcement program to improve residents' packaging of refuse was analyzed in a multiple‐baseline design across two areas of a city. The enforcement program involved instruction concerning refuse‐packaging regulations, collection only of appropriately packaged refuse, and feedback notices to residents concerning the reasons for noncollection of their inadequately packaged refuse. Both the number of violations and the percentage of residences violating each day were markedly reduced during the enforcement program. Furthermore, sanitation workers considered that the packaging of refuse and the safety and efficiency of refuse collection had improved. This study served as a pilot evaluation of a policy change in the city sanitation department, and was functional in determining the direction of that policy.