"This pragmatic evaluator's companion from leaders in the field provides essential guidance for designing, implementing, and managing exemplary evaluations using established and emerging methods, designs, and analyses. With contributions from skilled experts, the Handbook has a unique focus on the c
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ompetencies identified by the American Evaluation Association as critical for evaluators. Balancing rigor with practical, mentor-style guidance, chapters build the reader's skills for tailoring studies creatively to address specific evaluation situations and contexts; optimizing communication and collaborative decision making; and centering equity and justice. This insiders guide is replete with detailed examples, real-world scenarios, and other helpful features, including chapter overviews and an end-of-book glossary." (Publisher description)
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"Showing how evaluation practice looks when guided by theory, the third edition of the influential "theory tree" book is significantly revised with over 80% new material, including a greater focus on equity and theories over theorists. Chapters from leading authorities describe the goals of each the
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ory; the type of evaluation for which it is appropriate (formative, summary formative, summative, adaptive); the size of the program for which it is most applicable; specific prescriptions; and observable actions that help to define the theory. Readers are given the tools to select suitable approaches for the size, contexts and stage of an evaluation and their own personal values. New to this edition: chapters on culturally responsive evaluation, indigenous evaluation, and developmental evaluation; organized around theories rather than individual theorists; increased attention to practical applications, including a chapter distilling the goals, methods, and standards of evaluations based on each theory; and a case study chapter on the role of theory in evaluation policy." (Publisher description)
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"Evaluation: A Systematic Approach is the best-selling comprehensive introduction to the field of program evaluation, covering the range of evaluation research activities used in appraising the design, implementation, effectiveness, and efficiency of social programs. Evaluation domains are presented
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in a coherent framework that not only explores each, but recognizes their interrelationships, their role in improving social programs and the outcomes they are designed to affect, and their embeddedness in social and political context. Relied on as the “gold standard” by professors, students, and practitioners for 40 years, the new Eighth Edition includes a new practical chapter on planning an evaluation, entirely new examples throughout, and a major re-organization of the book’s content to better serve the needs of program evaluation courses." (Publisher description)
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"The Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation provides tools for managers and evaluators to address questions about the performance of public and nonprofit programs. Neatly integrating authoritative, high-level information with practicality and readability, this guide gives you the tools and process
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es you need to analyze your program's operations and outcomes more accurately. This new fourth edition has been thoroughly updated and revised, with new coverage of the latest evaluation methods, including: culturally responsive evaluation; adopting designs and tools to evaluate multi-service community change programs; using role playing to collect data; using cognitive interviewing to pre-test surveys; coding qualitative data. You'll discover robust analysis methods that produce a more accurate picture of program results, and learn how to trace causality back to the source to see how much of the outcome can be directly attributed to the program. Written by award-winning experts at the top of the field, this book also contains contributions from the leading evaluation authorities among academics and practitioners to provide the most comprehensive, up-to-date reference on the topic. Valid and reliable data constitute the bedrock of accurate analysis, and since funding relies more heavily on program analysis than ever before, you cannot afford to rely on weak or outdated methods. This book gives you expert insight and leading edge tools that help you paint a more accurate picture of your program's processes and results, including: obtaining valid, reliable, and credible performance data; engaging and working with stakeholders to design valuable evaluations and performance monitoring systems; assessing program outcomes and tracing desired outcomes to program activities; providing robust analyses of both quantitative and qualitative data" (Publisher description)
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