The Practice Of Evaluation

The Practice of Evaluation: Partnership Approaches for Community Change provides foundational content on evaluation concepts, approaches, and methods, with an emphasis on the use of evaluation and partnership approaches to effect change. Real examples in every chapter illustrate key ideas and concepts "in action" on topics such as organizational development, capacity building, program improvement, and advocacy. Editors Ryan P. Kilmer and James R. Cook, and the chapter authors, highlight pragmatic approaches to evaluation that balance the needs of stakeholders in an ethical way, to provide useful, usable, and actionable guidance for program improvement.

This engaging text takes an evenhanded approach to major theoretical paradigms in evaluation and builds a bridge from them to evaluation practice. Featuring helpful checklists, procedural steps, provocative questions that invite readers to explore their own theoretical assumptions, and practical exercises, the book provides concrete guidance for conducting large- and small-scale evaluations. Numerous sample studies—many with reflective commentary from the evaluators—reveal the process through which an evaluator incorporates a paradigm into an actual research project. The book shows how theory informs methodological choices (the specifics of planning, implementing, and using evaluations). It offers balanced coverage of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches. Useful pedagogical features include: *Examples of large- and small-scale evaluations from multiple disciplines. *Beginning-of-chapter reflection questions that set the stage for the material covered. *"Extending your thinking" questions and practical activities that help readers apply particular theoretical paradigms in their own evaluation projects. *Relevant Web links, including pathways to more details about sampling, data collection, and analysis. *Boxes offering a closer look at key evaluation concepts and additional studies. *Checklists for readers to determine if they have followed recommended practice. *A companion website with resources for further learning.

Reflecting the latest developments in the field, the Second Edition provides readers with effective methods for evaluating health programs, policies, and health care systems, offering expert guidance for collaborating with stakeholders involved in the process. Author David Grembowski explores evaluation as a three-act play: Act I shows evaluators how to work with decision makers and other groups to identify the questions they want answered; Act II covers selecting appropriate evaluation designs and methods to answer the questions and reveal insights about the program’s impacts, cost-effectiveness, and implementation; and Act III discusses making use of the findings. Packed with relevant examples and detailed explanations, the book offers a step-by-step approach that fully prepares readers to apply research methods in the practice of health program evaluation.

You've taken your introduction to evaluation course and are about to do your first evaluation project. Where do you begin? Interactive Evaluation Practice: Managing the Interpersonal Dynamics of Program Evaluation helps bridge the gap between the theory of evaluation and its practice, giving students the specific skills they need to use in different evaluation settings. Jean A. King and Laurie Stevahn present readers with three organizing frameworks (derived from social interdependence theory from social psychology, evaluation use research, and the evaluation capacity building literature) for thinking about evaluation practice. These frameworks help readers track the various skills or strategies to use for distinctive evaluation situations. In addition, the authors provide explicit advice about how to solve specific evaluation problems. Numerous examples throughout the text bring interactive practice to life in a variety of settings.

Program Evaluation and Performance Measurement: An Introduction to Practice, Second Edition offers an accessible, practical introduction to program evaluation and performance measurement for public and non-profit organizations, and has been extensively updated since the first edition. Using examples, it covers topics in a detailed fashion, making it a useful guide for students as well as practitioners who are participating in program evaluations or constructing and implementing performance measurement systems. Authors James C. McDavid, Irene Huse, and Laura R. L. Hawthorn guide readers through conducting quantitative and qualitative program evaluations, needs assessments, cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analyses, as well as constructing, implementing and using performance measurement systems. The importance of professional judgment is highlighted throughout the book as an intrinsic feature of evaluation practice.

Offering an excellent, client-oriented, results-driven means for studying practice evaluation, this book brings together practice, research, structural change in service delivery, and specific skills in an integrated, problem-solving way. With managed care becoming such a hot topic, professionals need to track client assessments and demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of their treatment. PRACTICE EVALUATION IN THE 21st CENTURY helps students develop the skills to monitor efficacy by integrating practice and research in the text, as well as providing access to powerful evaluation software via the Web. The book effectively conveys to students the importance of empirically evaluating social work practice and the responsibility of all practitioners to engage in evaluation as an integrated part of professional practice. Students have access to the CASS software on the accompanying Web site and will find that the contextual support in the text along with easy-to-follow documentation make the software easy to use.

This text presents both the quantitative and qualitative methods and focuses on teaching students how to skillfully apply the full range of research designs, methods and strategies to evaluation of social work in all domains of social work practice. The book provides a framework for the integration of systematic inquiry with practice that can be used by all social workers. The authors have created a model called, "evaluation practice" that provides the evidence-based structure within which diverse social work theories and skills can be organized, examined and verified.

Integrate qualitative inquiry approaches and methods into the practice of evaluation Qualitative inquiry can have a major effect on evaluation practice, and provides evaluators a means to explore and examine various settings and contexts in need of rich description and deeper understanding. Qualitative Inquiry in Evaluation: From Theory to Practice explores the most important considerations for both students and evaluation professionals. Using various evaluation theories and approaches as a springboard for real-world practice, this reference serves as an accessible text for beginning students and seasoned professionals alike. Readers are given an in-depth view of the key qualities and benefits of qualitative inquiry, which also serves as a crucial counterpart to quantitative analysis. Chapters in part one focus on the foundations, core concepts, and intersection of evaluation theory and qualitative inquiry. Part two contains contributions from leading evaluators whose design, implementation, and reporting strategies for qualitative inquiry are centered on common, real-world settings. These case-based chapters point to the strengths and challenges of implementing qualitative evaluations. Key competencies for conducting effective qualitative evaluations are also discussed. Explores the role of qualitative inquiry in many prominent approaches to evaluation Discusses the method's history and delves into key concepts in qualitative inquiry and evaluation Helps readers understand which qualities are necessary to be an effective qualitative evaluator Presents the viewpoints and experiences of expert editors and contributing authors with high levels of understanding on the topic Qualitative Inquiry in Evaluation: From Theory to Practice is a vital tool for evaluators and students alike who are looking to deepen their understanding of the theoretical perspectives and practice considerations of qualitative evaluation.