Program Evaluation, Applied Research Methods, and similar courses in Psychology, Sociology, Nursing, Political Science, Education, Human Resources at the advanced undergraduate or master's levels. This volume provides a comprehensive yet accessible introduction to the skills, attitudes and methods required to evaluate programs offered in public and private organizations. The authors stress the development of a program-improvement focus that begins with program conceptualization through implementation and analysis of outcomes and costs. They also provide detailed descriptions of methods for improving program evaluation reports and encouraging utilization.

Table of Contents:
(NOTE: Each chapter concludes with a Summary and Preview, Study Questions, And Additional Resources. Also some chapters conclude with Case Studies.)  1. Program Evaluation: An Overview. Evaluation tasks that need to be done. Common types of program evaluations. Activities often confused with program evaluation. Differnet types of evaluations for differnet kinds of programs. Purpose of program evaluation. The roles of evaluators.  2. Planning an Evaluation. An overview of evaluation models. Steps in preparing to conduct an evaluation. Dysfunctional attitudes toward program evaluation.  3. Selecting Criteria and Setting Standards. Importance of selecting criteria and setting standards. Developing goals and objectives. Evaluation criteria and evaluation questions. Some practical limitations on selecting evaluation criteria.  4. Developing Measures. Sources of data for evaluating. Qualities of good assessment procedures. Types of measures of evaluation criteria. Preparing special surveys.  5. Ethics in Program Evaluation. Standards for the practice of evaluation. Ethical issues involved in the treatment of people. Role conflicts facing evaluators. Recognizing the different needs of stakeholders. The validity of evaluations. Avoiding possible negative side effects of evaluation procedures. Ethical problems evaluators report.  6. The Assessment of Need. Definitions of need. Sources of information for the assessment of need. Inadequate assessment of need. Using need assessments in program planning.  7. Monitoring the Operation of Programs. Monitoring programs as a means of evaluating programs. What to summarize with information systems. Program records and information systems. Following the course of service. Threatening uses of information systems. Avoiding common problems in implementing an information system.  8. Single Group, Nonexperimental Outcome Evaluations. Single-group evaluation designs. Uses of single-group, descriptive designs. Threats to internal validity. Construct validity in pretest-posttest designs. Overinterpreting the results of single-group designs. Usefulness of single-group designs as initial approaches to program evaluation.  9. Quasi-Experimental Approaches to Outcome Evaluation. Making observations at a greater number of intervals. Observing other groups. Regression-discontinuity design. Observing other dependent variables. Combining designs to increase internal validity. 10. Using Experiments to Evaluate Programs. Experiments in program evaluation. Objections to experimentation. The most desirable times to conduct experiments. Preserving an experimental design. Precautions before data collection. Precautions while the experiment is in progess. 11. Analysis of Costs and Outcomes. Cost analyses and budgets. Comparing outcomes to costs. Some details of cost analyses. Major criticisms of cost analyses. 12. Qualitative Evaluation Methods. Evaluation settings best served by qualitative methods. Gathering qualitative information. Carrying out naturalistic evaluations. Coordinating qualitative and quantitative methods. Philosophical assumptions. 13. Evaluation Reports: Interpreting and Communicating Findings. Developing a communication plan. Personal presentations of findings. Content of formal written evaluation reports. Progress reports and press releases. 14. How to Encourage Utilization. Obstacles to effective utilization. Dealing with mixed findings. Using evaluations showing no program effects. Developing a learning culture. Evaluation attitude. Summary and possible trends for program evaluation. Appendix: Illustrative Evaluation Report. Indexes.