This study proposes a methodology for assessing social capacity for environmental management (SCEM) which contributes to urban air quality improvement by identifying the actors and factors constituting the social capacity explicitly. To do so, a confirmatory factor analysis and a structural equation model are applied to estimate the effects of social actors (i.e., government, firms, and citizens) and factors (i.e., policies & measures, resource management,and knowledge & technology) on urban air quality management in 2 major cities (i.e., Osaka, Kitakyushu) in Japan. Using a panel data set for years between 1971 and 2000, a new evaluation method for capacity development is proposed called a “Actor-Factor Matrix evaluation” by using the results obtained in the analyses. Our results also show the difference of structure in SCEM and contribution to urban air quality by each city.

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Recently, “student ratings” of courses are becoming popular among Japanese colleges and universities to get more information for Faculty Development (FD). The purpose of this paper is to propose a new three-dimensional analysis incorporating the weight of factors in student evaluations of university courses. It is useful for the policy of FD to consider the importance of these factors. If the factors that are most important to students is known, course performance can be improved more effectively. Conjoint analysis was used to determine the important criteria. We translate not only the results of conjoint analysis (“utility” and “averaged importance”) but “students ratings” data in a three-dimensional bubble graph. This graph makes it possible to show faculties the priority of factors that must be improved in their courses. Four divisions of the graph, named “continued-factors”, “reexamined-factors”, “improved-factors” and “reduced-factors” represent the features of the variables that are located in each division.

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While civic organizations have recently been becoming more influential than ever in Japan, NGOs are expected to be accountable for the meaningfulness and effects of their development assistance projects in order to gain understanding from stakeholders. However, there have not been enough discussions on NGO accountability in Japan. Also, a question is raised in such discussions －Who are “NGOs”? This article considers NGO accountability from a holistic viewpoint by applying the case study of the evaluation of a project conducted by an NGO in Japan, based on the assumption that roles and functions of evaluation are important in NGO accountability. This article also considers conceptual classification of NGO accountability. It is concluded that, since the contents of accountability can be different depending on the relative relationship with target stakeholders, it can be useful to: 1) implement several different types of evaluations even in a single project; and 2) involve stakeholders in the evaluation process. Future prospects and issues to deal with: This article also points out: 1) the necessity of building partnerships between NGOs and different actors including the government (or administration), private enterprises and citizens; and 2) the importance of accountability for NGOs', visions and strategies.

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A vast reservoir of knowledge and experience from utilization studies developed since the 1970s illuminates political and enlightenment functions in evaluation. This is virtually ignored by Japanese public agencies who report how they have used policy evaluation in a straightforward manner. As a bridgehead for applying the concept of evaluation use to evaluation studies and practices for public policy in Japan, this paper introduces independent/user-oriented,concrete/abstract (the process of use), substantive/symbolic (the purpose of use) and findings/process (the object of use) discriminators. With these discriminators and the appreciation of studies by policy analysts such as Weiss and Whiteman, this study illustrates eight different models of evaluation use with a novel, comprehensive matrix. Apart from the conventional typology of use including instrumental, conceptual and symbolic, this matrix gains a balanced perspective on the substantive and political nature of evaluation use.

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