Evaluation Methodolgy Basics : The Nuts and Bolts of How to Put Together a Solid Evaluation

Click ′Additional Materials′ for downloadable samples "I welcome this student-friendly text to complement my favorite checklists. This text develops the core checklist framework to provide evaluation methodology basics for, presumably mainly, introductory courses on program evaluation." —Colin Sharp, Evaluation Journal of Australasia "What is evaluation-specific logic and methodology? This book answers that question in a way that is persuasive, accessible, and understandable. It presents a set of principles and procedures to guide the task of blending descriptive data with relevant values to draw explicitly evaluative conclusions. The book makes a significant contribution to positioning evaluation as a unique and special field of inquiry and judgment." —Michael Quinn Patton, Union Institute and University "Amidst the wash of methods books available to evaluators, Davidson′s book provides powerful techniques for asking and answering the important foundational questions in any program evaluation." —Doug Leigh, Pepperdine University "This is a very well written book that offers a unique perspective on long-practiced evaluation techniques and presents several new, potentially very useful, techniques that return "valuation" to the evaluation process." —Greg Roberts, University of Texas, Austin Evaluation theorists for years have advised evaluators to "take into account" all relevant values as part of an evaluation. But especially for the relatively new evaluator (even one who is knowledgeable and experienced in research methodology), there is not a lot of guidance about how this is done. Evaluation Methodology Basics: The Nuts and Bolts of Sound Evaluation provides a step-by-step guide for doing a real evaluation. It focuses on the main kinds of "big picture" questions that evaluators usually need to answer, and how the nature of such questions is linked to evaluation methodology choices. Jane Davidson explains how to combine a mix of qualitative and quantitative data wi