The Evaluation Handbook An Evaluator's Companion

by Rog, Debra J.; Bickman, Leonard

• ISBN13: 9781462537341
• ISBN10: 1462537340
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2025-05-15
• Publisher: The Guilford Press

Summary

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 competencies 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 insider’s guide is replete with detailed examples, real-world scenarios, and other helpful features, including chapter overviews and an end-of-book glossary.

Author Biography

Debra Rog, PhD, is a Vice President for Social Policy and Economics Research at Westat. Throughout her career, Dr. Rog has directed numerous evaluation studies of homeless and housing interventions and systems, mental health and substance abuse interventions, public health programs and initiatives, and criminal justice initiatives, among other areas. She is a recognized expert in evaluation practice and applied research design. Dr. Rog is Associate Director for Faculty Affairs at The Evaluators’ Institute and past president of the American Evaluation Association (AEA). She has been recognized for her evaluation work by the National Institute of Mental Health, the AEA, the Eastern Evaluation Research Society, and the Knowledge Utilization Society.

Leonard Bickman, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Vanderbilt University, former Director of the Center for Evaluation and Program Improvement at Peabody College, and Research Professor at Florida International University. Dr. Bickman is a nationally recognized leader in program evaluation and mental health services research on children and adolescents. He is past president of the American Evaluation Association (AEA) and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. Dr. Bickman's contributions have been recognized with the Outstanding Evaluation Award from the AEA, the Award for Distinguished Contributions to Research in Public Policy from the American Psychological Association, and the Secretary's Award for Distinguished Service from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, among other honors.

Table of Contents

I. Foundation for the Volume
1. Setting the Stage: Supporting the Diverse Knowledge and Skills Evaluators Need in an Ever-Changing Context, Debra J. Rog & Leonard Bickman
2. Competencies for Program Evaluators, Jean A. King
II. Evaluation Theories, Foundations, Principles, and Purpose
3. Evaluative Thinking: Understanding and Applying the Foundations of Evaluation, Thomas Archibald, Jane Buckley, & Guy O’Grady Sharrock 
4. Evaluation Theories: Guidance to Evaluating in Various Circumstances, Melvin M. Mark
5. Valuing in Evaluation, Emily F. Gates & Thomas A. Schwandt
6. Equity in Evaluation, Donna Durant Atkinson
7. Ethical Challenges, Michael Morris
8. Fostering Evaluation Use, Marvin C. Alkin & Anne T. Vo
9. Illuminating Evaluation's Kaleidoscope: Beautiful, Diverse, Ever-Changing Manifestations, Michael Quinn Patton
III. Answering Evaluation Questions: Designs, Methods, and Analyses 
10. Stakeholder Involvement Approaches to Evaluation: Collaborative, Participatory, and Empowerment Evaluation, David Fetterman, Liliana Rodríguez-Campos, & Ann Zukoski
11. Making the Most of Evaluations: Strategies for Assessing Program Evaluability and Evaluation Feasibility, Debra J. Rog
12. Monitoring Program Implementation, Byron J. Powell, Leonard Bickman, & Kimberly E. Hoagwood
13. Examining Outcomes and Impacts: Designs and Strategies in Theory and Practice, Laura R. Peck & R. Bradley Snyder
14. Combining Costs and Results: Designs, Strategies, and Analysis, Robert Shand, A. Brooks Bowden, & Henry Levin
15. Evaluation as Storytelling: Using a Qualitative Design, Sharon Rallis & Janet Usinger
16. Planning, Data Collection, and Data Preparation for Quantitative Analysis, Erica Harbatkin, Gary T. Henry, & Lam D. Pham
17. Conducting a Quantitative Analysis, Lam D. Pham, Gary T. Henry, & Erica Harbatkin
18. Mixed Methods Design, Tarek Azzam & Natalie Jones
IV. Planning, Managing, and Implementing Evaluations 
19. Designing and Planning an Evaluation: Beyond Methods, Darlene F. Russ-Eft
20. Logic Models and Program Theory, Joy Frechtling
21. Resource Planning, Leonard Bickman
22. The Role of an Internal Evaluator, Arnold Love
23. The Independent Consultant: An Insider’s Guide to a Consulting Career, Gail Vallance Barrington
24. Conducting Evaluations under Budget, Time, and Data Constraints: An International Perspective, Michael Bamberger
V. Crosscutting Issues 
25. Communicating with Stakeholders, Glenn O’Neil
26. Information Visualization and Evaluation, Tarek Azzam, Sarah Douville, Ciara Knight, Piper Grandjean Targos, & Natalie Jones
27. Exemplary Evaluations in a Multicultural World, Stewart I. Donaldson
Glossary
Author Index
Subject Index
Contributors