Randomized Experiments For Planning And Evaluation

Boruch untangles the complexities of randomized field experiments, exploring the criteria for deciding whether a programme has worked or not, standards used to judge the ethcial propriety of the experiments and baseline measures.

Social Experimentation: A Method for Planning and Evaluating Social Intervention summarizes the available knowledge about how randomized experiments might be used in planning and evaluating ameliorative social programs. The book presents various aspects of social experimentation - design, measurement, execution, sponsorship, and utilization of results. Chapters are devoted to topics on experimentation as a method of program planning and evaluation; experimental design and analysis; institutional and political factors in social experimentation; and aspects of time and institutional capacity. Sociologists will find the book a valuable piece of reference.

This book provides a comprehensive yet accessible guide to running randomized impact evaluations of social programs. Drawing on the experience of researchers at the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, which has run hundreds of such evaluations in dozens of countries throughout the world, it offers practical insights on how to use this powerful technique, especially in resource-poor environments. This step-by-step guide explains why and when randomized evaluations are useful, in what situations they should be used, and how to prioritize different evaluation opportunities. It shows how to design and analyze studies that answer important questions while respecting the constraints of those working on and benefiting from the program being evaluated. The book gives concrete tips on issues such as improving the quality of a study despite tight budget constraints, and demonstrates how the results of randomized impact evaluations can inform policy. With its self-contained modules, this one-of-a-kind guide is easy to navigate. It also includes invaluable references and a checklist of the common pitfalls to avoid. Provides the most up-to-date guide to running randomized evaluations of social programs, especially in developing countries Offers practical tips on how to complete high-quality studies in even the most challenging environments Self-contained modules allow for easy reference and flexible teaching and learning Comprehensive yet nontechnical

Program Evaluation: Embedding Evaluation into Program Design and Development provides an in-depth examination of the foundations, methods, and relevant issues in the field of evaluation. With an emphasis on an embedded approach, where evaluation is an explicit part of a program that leads to the refinement of the program, students will learn how to conduct effective evaluations that foster continual improvement and enable data-based decision making. This text provides students with both the theoretical understanding and the practical tools to conduct effective evaluations while being rigorous enough for experienced evaluators looking to expand their approach to evaluation.

Handbook of Applied Social Research Methods is a comprehensive, intelligent & authoritative guide to researchers who need to select & use the most suitable approach, specific designs, & data collection procedures for their applied research.

Evaluation and Experiment: Some Critical Issues in Assessing Social Programs is a collection of papers presented at the 1973 symposium held at The Battelle Seattle Research Center. This book contains eight chapters that consider some selected aspects of the problems in evaluating the outcomes of socially important programs, such as those dealing with education, health, and economic policy. The first chapter provides an overview of the issues around the Social Program Evaluation. The next chapters deal with the successes and failures brought by social innovations; the quasi-experimental evaluation in compensatory education to estimate the true effects of such education programs; and the usefulness and validity of econometric and related nonexperimental approaches for assessing the effects of social programs. These topics are followed by surveys of a number of additional program-evaluation studies, particularly in the field of family planning or fertility control, mostly carried out as experiments or quasi-experiments in Asian and Latin American countries. Other chapters describe the decision processes that involve explicit assessment of the worth or merit of outcomes and employ multivalued utility analysis and outline the ways in which evaluative data are useful in providing feedback to program or institutional operations and decisions. The final chapter discusses resolutions for some of the disagreements expressed by others concerning the role of field experiments, constraints in their utilization, and other factors that enter into a comprehensive conception of program evaluation.

Featuring engaging examples from diverse disciplines, this book explains how to use modern approaches to quasi-experimentation to derive credible estimates of treatment effects under the demanding constraints of field settings. Foremost expert Charles S. Reichardt provides an in-depth examination of the design and statistical analysis of pretest-posttest, nonequivalent groups, regression discontinuity, and interrupted time-series designs. He details their relative strengths and weaknesses and offers practical advice about their use. Reichardt compares quasi-experiments to randomized experiments and discusses when and why the former might be a better choice. Modern moethods for elaborating a research design to remove bias from estimates of treatment effects are described, as are tactics for dealing with missing data and noncompliance with treatment assignment. Throughout, mathematical equations are translated into words to enhance accessibility.

Evaluation Roots: A Wider Perspective of Theorists’ Views and Influences, Second Edition provides an updated examination of current evaluation theories and traces their evolution. Marvin C. Alkin shows how theories build upon theories and how the theories are related to each other. The way in which these evaluation "roots" grew to form a tree helps to provide a better understanding of evaluation theory. In addition to the editor's overview, the book contains essays by leading evaluation theorists. In these pieces, the evaluators comment on their own development and give their views of their placement upon the tree. **All royalties from sales of this book are donated to support the AEA Research on Evaluation Student Award.**