| Description |
1 online resource (xiii, 330 pages) |
| Contents |
What Is Evaluation? Professional Program Evaluation ; Evaluation and Research ; Evaluation Definition ; A Confusion of Terms ; RECAP-Section A ; Evaluation Purposes ; Gaining Additional Understanding -- Why Do Evaluations? Influences on Increased Understanding and Decision Making ; Need for Professional Evaluation ; RECAP-Section B ; Gaining Additional Understanding -- Time-Out: The RUPAS Case -- Case Study: The Rural Parents' Support Program -- Who Does Evaluations? Evaluator Settings ; Who Are You? ; Multiple Orientations to Doing Evaluation ; My View ; RECAP-Section C ; Gaining Additional Understanding -- Contracting for Evaluations ; Acquiring an Evaluation ; Writing the Proposal ; Preparing the Contract/Agreement ; Developing the Budget ; RECAP-Section D ; Gaining Additional Understanding -- Who Are the Stakeholders for an Evaluation? Stakeholders, Not Audience ; Who Are the Stakeholders? ; Focus on Primary Stakeholders ; Differences in Stakeholder Participation ; RECAP-Section E ; Gaining Additional Understanding -- How Do You Strengthen Relationships with Stakeholders? Cultural Understanding ; Credibility, Respect, and Trust ; Some Practical Guidelines ; RECAP-Section F ; Concluding Note ; Gaining Additional Understanding -- How Do You Describe the Program? ; What Is a Program? ; Learning about the Program ; RECAP-Section G ; Gaining Additional Understanding -- What Is the Organizational, Community, and Political Context of the Program? Organizational Context ; Community Context ; Political Context ; Impact on the Evaluation ; RECAP-Section H ; Gaining Additional Understanding |
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How Do You "Understand" the Program? Logic Models ; Why Is This Important? ; Getting Started ; RECAP-Section I ; Gaining Additional Understanding -- What Are the Questions/Issues to Be Addressed? What Motivates Evaluation? ; What Kinds of Evaluation Questions Can Be Asked? ; Getting Started on Defining Questions ; RECAP-Section J ; Gaining Additional Understanding -- What Are Instruments for Collecting Quantitative Data? Types of Instruments for Collecting Quantitative Data ; Finding Existing Instruments versus Developing New Ones ; Measuring Achievement ; RECAP-Section K ; Gaining Additional Understanding -- What Are Instruments for Collecting Qualitative Data? Developing New Instruments ; Observations ; Interviews and Focus Groups ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; RECAP-Section L ; Gaining Additional Understanding -- How Do Data Collection Issues Impact Potential Evaluability? Again, Be Clear on the Questions ; Focus of the Data ; Program Participants ; Program Staff; The Program ; Selecting Individuals ; Gaining Data Access ; Collecting Data; Quality of Data ; Understanding the Organization's Viewpoints ; RECAP-Section M ; Gaining Additional Understanding -- Are the Questions Evaluable? Stage of the Program ; Resources ; Nature of the Question ; Standards for Judgment ; Technical Issues ; Ethical Concerns ; Political Feasibility ; RECAP-Section N ; Gaining Additional Understanding -- How Do We Plan a Process-Focused Evaluation? The Evaluation Plan and Evaluation Design ; Administrative Process ; Implementation Processes ; Program Mechanisms ; RECAP-Section O ; Gaining Additional Understanding |
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How Do We Plan an Outcome-Focused Evaluation? Outcome Definition ; The Evaluation Plan and Evaluation Design ; RECAP 1-Section P ; An Exercise to Assist Us ; Toward Stronger Causal Models ; Descriptive Designs ; Intensive Case Study Design ; Mixed Methods ; Summary ; RECAP 2-Section P ; Gaining Additional Understanding -- How Do We Manage the Evaluation? Evaluation Activities: Past, Present, and Upcoming ; The Written Evaluation Management Plan ; Operational Management ; RECAP-Section Q ; Gaining Additional Understanding -- How Are Quantitative Data Analyzed? Types of Data ; Describing What's in Your Data Set ; Measures of Central TEndency ; Measures of Variability ; Other Ways to Describe Your Data ; Surprises in Your Data Set and How to Deal with Them ; A Note on Population and Sample Statistics ; Sampling ; Appropriate Statistical Techniques ; RECAP-Section R ; Gaining Additional Understanding -- How are Qualitative Data Analyzed? Coding ; Indexing ; Memoing ; Finding Patterns ; Testing the Validity of the Analysis ; RECAP-Section S ; Gaining Additional Understanding -- How are Analyzed Data Used to Answer Questions? Difficulties in Valuing ; Valuing in a Formative Context ; "Valuing" Redefined ; RECAP-Section T ; Gaining Additional Understanding -- How Are Evaluation Results Reported? Communication ; Issues Related to Reporting ; The Final Written Report ; RECAP 1-Section U ; Data Visualization Helps ; RECAP 2-Section U ; Gaining Additional Understanding -- What Is the Evaluator's Role in Helping Evaluations to Be Used? A Word about "Use" ; What Is Use? ; What Can You Do? ; Guard against Misuse ; RECAP-Section V ; Gaining Additional Understanding |
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What Are the Evaluation Standards and Codes of Behavior? Judging an Evaluation ; The Program Evaluation STandards ; American Evaluation Association Guiding Principles of Evaluators ; RECAP-Section W ; Gaining Additional Understanding -- How Are Costs Analyzed? Cost-Effectiveness Analysis ; Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Cost-Utility ; Single Outcome ; Multiple Outcomes ; And Now to Costs ; How to Determine Cost ; RECAP-Section X ; Gaining Additional Understanding -- What Is the "Theme" of This Book? Historical Perspective ; My Prescriptive Theory ; The research Origins of My Thinking ; Gaining Additional Understanding -- How Can YOu Embark on a Program to Learn More about Evaluation? Getting Feedback on Evaluation ; Taking Full Advantage of This Book ; Gaining Evaluation Expertise Beyond This Book ; Gaining Additional Understanding -- Appendices: Factors Affecting Evaluation Use ; An Evaluation Lesson / by "Unknown Student" ; Use Factors: Relationship to Research Compilations |
| Summary |
"Alkin has delivered again. This wonderful primer meets a glaring need in the evaluation literature, offering a brilliant introduction to the basics and practical realities of conducting modern evaluations. The engaging and practical approach will guarantee that this volume becomes required reading in many introductory evaluation courses and professional development trainings."--Stewart I. Donaldson, Dean, School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences, Claremont Graduate University |
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"Years of experience, wisdom, and common sense come through in this highly accessible, readable introduction to the world of program evaluation ... The concise chapters allow quick access to a given topic, making the book an excellent resource for individuals thinking about entering the field and program administrators who are intent on being thoughtful and data oriented in their own practice."--William E. Bickel, Senior Scientist, Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh |
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"The alphabet represents knowing the basics, using a widely shared framework, following a sequence, and comprehensiveness. This book delivers all those for evaluation. The style is personal. The examples are easy to understand ... Whether you are new to evaluation or are a professional looking for a refresher on fundamentals, this book offers an alphabet soup sure to please the palate."--Michael Quinn Patton, author of Developmental Evaluation |
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Written In A Refereshing Conversational Style, This Text Thoroughly Prepares Students, program administrators, and new evaluators to conduct evaluations or to use them in their work. The book's question-driven focus and clear discussions about the importance of fostering evaluation use by building collaborative relationships with stakeholders set it apart from other available texts. In 26 concise sections, Marvin C. Alkin explores how to articulate answerable evaluation questions, collect and analyze data using both quantitative and qualitative methods, and deal with contingencies that might alter the traditional sequence of an evaluation. Student-friendly features include handy bulleted recaps of each section, "Thinking Ahead" and "Next Steps" pointers, cautionary notes, annotated suggestions for further reading, and an in-depth case study that provides the basis for end-of-chapter exercises. --Book Jacket |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Print version record |
| Subject |
Evaluation research (Social action programs)
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REFERENCE -- Questions & Answers.
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Evaluation research (Social action programs)
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| Author |
Vo, Anne T., author.
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| ISBN |
9781462532438 |
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1462532438 |
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9781462532452 |
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1462532454 |
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9781462532421 |
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146253242X |
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