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Author: Stewart I. Donaldson Publisher: SAGE Publications ISBN: 148335508X Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 296
Book Description
Addressing one of the most important and contentious issues challenging applied research and evaluation practice today—what constitutes credible and actionable evidence?—this volume offers a balanced and current context in which to analyze the long-debated quantitative-qualitative paradigms. In the Second Edition, the contributors, a veritable "who’s who" in evaluation, discuss the diversity and changing nature of credible and actionable evidence; offer authoritative guidance about using credible and actionable evidence; explain how to use it to provide rigorous and influential evaluations; and include lessons from their own applied research and evaluation to suggest ways to address the key issues and challenges. Reflecting the latest developments in the field and covering both experimental and non-experimental methods, the new edition includes revised and updated chapters, summaries of strengths and weaknesses across varied approaches, and contains diverse definitions of evidence. Also included are two new chapters on assessing credibility and synthesizing evidence for policy makers. This is a valuable resource for students and others interested in how to best study and evaluate programs, policies, organizations, and other initiatives designed to improve aspects of the human condition and societal well-being.
Author: Stewart I. Donaldson Publisher: SAGE Publications ISBN: 148335508X Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 296
Book Description
Addressing one of the most important and contentious issues challenging applied research and evaluation practice today—what constitutes credible and actionable evidence?—this volume offers a balanced and current context in which to analyze the long-debated quantitative-qualitative paradigms. In the Second Edition, the contributors, a veritable "who’s who" in evaluation, discuss the diversity and changing nature of credible and actionable evidence; offer authoritative guidance about using credible and actionable evidence; explain how to use it to provide rigorous and influential evaluations; and include lessons from their own applied research and evaluation to suggest ways to address the key issues and challenges. Reflecting the latest developments in the field and covering both experimental and non-experimental methods, the new edition includes revised and updated chapters, summaries of strengths and weaknesses across varied approaches, and contains diverse definitions of evidence. Also included are two new chapters on assessing credibility and synthesizing evidence for policy makers. This is a valuable resource for students and others interested in how to best study and evaluate programs, policies, organizations, and other initiatives designed to improve aspects of the human condition and societal well-being.
Author: Stewart I. Donaldson Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1000430464 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 229
Book Description
Introduction to Theory-Driven Program Evaluation provides a clear guide for practicing evaluation science, and numerous examples of how these evaluations actually unfold in contemporary practice. A special emphasis is placed how to conduct theory-driven program evaluations that are culturally responsive and strengths-focused. In this thoroughly revised new edition, author Stewart I. Donaldson provides a state-of-the art treatment of the basics of conducting theory-driven program evaluations. Each case follows a three-step model: developing program impact theory; formulating and prioritizing evaluation questions; and answering evaluation questions. The initial chapters discuss the evolution and popularity of theory-driven program evaluation, as well as step-by-step guide for culturally responsive and strengths-focused applications. Succeeding chapters provide actual cases and discuss the practical implications of theory-driven evaluation science. Reflections, challenges, and lessons learned across numerous cases from practices are discussed. The volume is of significant value to practicing evaluators, professors of introductory evaluation courses and their students, advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and serves as a text or a supplementary text for a wide range of evaluation and applied research courses. It is also of great interest to those interested in the connections between work and health, well-being, career development, human service organizations, and organizational improvement and effectiveness.
Author: Stewart I. Donaldson Publisher: SAGE Publications ISBN: 1483325075 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 377
Book Description
Addressing one of the most important and contentious issues challenging applied research and evaluation practice today—what constitutes credible and actionable evidence?—this volume offers a balanced and current context in which to analyze the long-debated quantitative-qualitative paradigms. In the Second Edition, the contributors, a veritable “who’s who” in evaluation, discuss the diversity and changing nature of credible and actionable evidence; offer authoritative guidance about using credible and actionable evidence; explain how to use it to provide rigorous and influential evaluations; and include lessons from their own applied research and evaluation to suggest ways to address the key issues and challenges. Reflecting the latest developments in the field and covering both experimental and non-experimental methods, the new edition includes revised and updated chapters, summaries of strengths and weaknesses across varied approaches, and contains diverse definitions of evidence. Also included are two new chapters on assessing credibility and synthesizing evidence for policy makers. This is a valuable resource for students and others interested in how to best study and evaluate programs, policies, organizations, and other initiatives designed to improve aspects of the human condition and societal well-being.
Author: David Fetterman Publisher: Stanford Business Books ISBN: 9780804781114 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
Empowerment Evaluation in the Digital Villages analyzes a $15 million community change initiative designed to bridge the digital divide in East Palo Alto, East Baltimore, and San Diego. Involving a partnership between Hewlett-Packard, Stanford University, and three ethnically diverse communities, this initiative enabled its constituencies to build their own technology-oriented businesses, improve their education systems, and improve their economic health. While examining this large-scale, multi-site case, Fetterman highlights the potential for empowerment evaluation to build local capacity and sustain improvements within communities. He provides deep insights into key steps in empowerment evaluation by exploring the way that each of these phases took place in the digital villages. Additionally, the text provides evaluators with real-world stories and practical advice from the front lines. The Digital Village case also demonstrates the social value of combining corporate philanthropy, academic prowess, and community empowerment—highlighting the role of evaluation in this process.
Author: Stewart I. Donaldson Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1136677321 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 253
Book Description
Program Theory-Driven Evaluation Science fills the gap between 21st century literature on evaluation and what is happening in practice. It features detailed examples of how evaluations actually unfold in practice to develop people, programs, and organizations. Commonly accepted strategies for practicing evaluation are outlined, followed by comprehe
Author: James C. McDavid Publisher: SAGE Publications ISBN: 145228959X Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 561
Book Description
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.
Author: Donna M. Mertens Publisher: Guilford Press ISBN: 1462503241 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 642
Book Description
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.
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Publisher: National Academies Press ISBN: 0309388570 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 525
Book Description
Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.
Author: Huey T. Chen Publisher: SAGE Publications ISBN: 1452252440 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 331
Book Description
With the publication of Theory-Driven Evaluations, Huey-Tsyh Chen has given us an ambitious volume. . . . Indeed, it is the aspiration of this book to provide a conceptual framework that integrates the diverse approaches and paradigms of evaluation. For those of us accustomed to the rhetoric of the paradigm wars that have been raging in recent years, it is refreshing to find a text that works so assiduously at reconciliation. . . . There is much that is useful in Chen′s analysis. He gives us a full and thoughtful book that attempts no less than the construction of a conceptual framework for all of program evaluation. . . . It provides an impressive compendium of source material and references spanning not only evaluation, but related work in economics and public policy (this alone is worth the price of the book). . . . Chen′s Theory-Driven Evaluations provides a stimulating, even heroic attempt to bring some conceptual integration to a field that has been too long dominated by methodological paradigms and procedural particulars. --a prepublication review for Evaluation and Program Planning "Generous use of examples which are well selected and lucidly summarized." --Contemporary Sociology "Chen introduces a new, comprehensive framework for program evaluation that is designed to bridge the gap between method and theory-oriented perspectives. . . . For program planners, decision makers, scholars, and students, this volume clarifies, illuminates and provides unique insights into the conception, construction and implementation of a wide range of programs. . . . The research examples used in the discussion draw upon various areas, such as education, welfare, health, criminal justice, job training [and] family construction to attract a wider audience." --Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling Program evaluation has traditionally emphasized the application of social science research methods in evaluation activities. However, there is a growing awareness that program theory is vital for broadening the scope and enhancing the usefulness of program evaluation. In Theory-Driven Evaluations, Huey-Tsyh Chen introduces a new, comprehensive framework for program evaluation that is designed to bridge the gap between the method- and theory-oriented perspectives. He provides an intensive discussion of the nature and functions of program theory, approaches to constructing program theories, and the integration of program theory with evaluation processes. Specific types of theory-driven evaluations, as well as principles and guidelines for application are developed for meeting different policy purposes. Application of systematic strategies is illustrated by concrete examples from a variety of evaluation studies in different fields. The presentation of this new perspective directly addresses the needs and concerns in both the professional and applied areas of program evaluation. For program planners, decisionmakers, scholars and students, this volume will clarify, illuminate, and provide unique insights into the conception, construction, and implementation of a wide range of programs.
Author: Stewart I. Donaldson
Author: Stewart I. Donaldson
Author: Stewart I. Donaldson
Author: Stewart I. Donaldson
Author: David Fetterman
Author: Stewart I. Donaldson
Author: Michael Scriven
Author: James C. McDavid
Author: Donna M. Mertens
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Author: Huey T. Chen