'This handbook thoroughly covers all aspects of evaluation, yet isn't too technical to understand. It offers everything an organization needs to know to get the most out of evaluation' - Nonprofit World `The Handbook succeeds in capturing and presenting evaluation's extensive knowledge base within a global context. In so doing it provides a useful, coherent and definitive benchmark on the field's diverse and dynamic purposes, practices, theories, approaches, issues, and challenges for the 21st century. The Handbook is an essential reference and map for any serious evaluation practitioner, scholar and student anywhere in the world' - Michael Quinn Patton, author of Utilization-Focused Evaluation `Readers of this volume will find a set of texts that provide an evocative overview of contemporary thinking in the world of evaluation. This is not a book of simple tips. It does justice to the complex realities of evaluation practice by bringing together some of the best practitioners in the world to reflect on its current state. It is theoretically sophisticated yet eminently readable, anchored in evaluation as it is undertaken in a variety of domains. It is the kind of book that startles a little and makes you think. I highly recommend it' - Murray Saunders, University of Lancaster In this comprehensive handbook, an examination of the complexities of contemporary evaluation contributes to the ongoing dialogue that arises in professional efforts to evaluate people-related programs, policies and practices. The SAGE Handbook of Evaluation is a unique and authoritative resource consisting of 25 chapters covering a range of evaluation theories and techniques in a single, accessible volume. With contributions from world-leading figures in their fields overseen by an eminent international editorial board, this handbook is an extensive and user-friendly resource organised in four coherent sections: " Role and Purpose of Evaluation in Society; " Evaluation as a Social Practice; " The Practice of Evaluation; " Domains of Evaluation Practice. The Handbook of Evaluation is written for practicing evaluators, academics, advanced postgraduate students and evaluation clients and offers a definitive, benchmark statement on evaluation theory and practice for the first decades of the 21st century.

Table of Contents:
The Evaluation of Policies, Programs and Practices - Melvin M Mark, Jennifer C Greene and Ian Shaw An Introduction PART ONE: ROLE AND PURPOSE OF EVALUATION IN SOCIETY The Purposes of Evaluation in a Democratic Society - Eleanor Chelimsky Roles for Theory in Contemporary Evaluation Practice - Stewart I Donaldson and Mark W Lipsey Developing Practical Knowledge Evaluation for Practice Improvement and Organizational Learning - Patricia J Rogers and Bob Williams Evaluation and the Study of Lived Experience - Thomas A Schwandt and Holli Burgon Evaluation, Democracy and Social Change - Jennifer C Greene Evaluation after Disenchantment? Five Issues Shaping the Role of Evaluation in Society - Peter Dahler-Larsen PART TWO: EVALUATION AS A SOCIAL PRACTICE Government as Structural Context for Evaluation - Phil Davies, Kathryn Newcomer and Haluk Soydan The Social Relations of Evaluation - Tineke A Abma Intellectual Contexts - John Stevenson and David Thomas The Relationship between Evaluation and Politics - Ove Karlsson Vestman and Ross F Conner Ethics in Evaluation - Helen Simons A Comparative Analysis of Evaluation Utilization and Its Cognate Fields of Inquiry - J Bradley Cousins and Lyn M Shulha Current Issues and Trends Contextual Challenges for Evaluation Practice - Elliot Stern PART THREE: THE PRACTICE OF EVALUATION Methods for Policymaking and Knowledge Development Evaluations - Melvin M Mark and Gary T Henry Embedding Improvements, Lived Experience and Social Justice in Evaluation Practice - Elizabeth Whitmore et al Managing Evaluations - Robert Walker and Michael Wiseman Communicating Evaluation - Marvin C Alkin, Christina A Christie and Mike Rose On Discerning Quality in Evaluation - Robert E Stake and Thomas A Schwandt The Practice of Evaluation: Challenges and New Directions - Lois-ellin Datta PART FOUR: DOMAINS OF EVALUATION PRACTICE Evaluation in Education - David Nevo Evaluation of Health Services: Reflections on Practice - Andrew Long Social Work and the Human Services - Ian Shaw with Carol T Mowbray and Hazel Qureshi Evaluation in Criminal Justice - Nick Tilley and Alan Clarke Evaluation of Development Interventions and Humanitarian Action - Osvaldo Feinstein and Tony Beck Evidence-Based Evaluation in Different Professional Domains - Alan Clarke Similarities, Differences and Challenges