This article presents a process analysis of data from a survey of 648 households living in
resident-managed public housing and a comparison group of 588 households living in traditionally managed public housing, conducted as part of an evaluation for the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Results provide a better understanding of the possible
causal processes underlying the impact on housing satisfaction reported in previous evaluations
of resident management programs. In addition, the analysis reveals the importance of several
mediating variables or subobjectives of the program, particularly management strictness,
security, and residents' satisfaction with their neighbors, that may have policy and management
implications for the public housing program more generally. These findings illustrate the advantage
of using process analysis to enhance a more traditional quasi-experimental impact assessment.
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