Practical Program Evaluations

by Emison, Gerald Andrews

• ISBN13: 9780872893023
• ISBN10: 0872893022
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-09-07
• Publisher: Cq Pr

Summary

Program evaluation requires attention to rationality, rigor, and careful methods. Yet precision and accuracy alone do not guarantee that program evaluations will be implemented. What prevents an evaluation from being thrown on a shelf to gather dust? Author Gerald Emison, a practitioner with more than 20 years experience, knows that the consumers of program evaluations operate in a decidedly practical and political arena where decision making is a very human and sometimes messy process. Getting students from ideas to outcomes means that knowing clients&BAD:rs" needs and effectively communicating results are just as crucial as an evaluator&BAD:rs"s theoretical knowledge and statistical analysis. Emison wants to help students translate their mastery of methodology into useable program evaluations that are implemented and affect actual programs.Short and to-the-point, Practical Program Evaluations hones in on the applied side of program evaluation, with the goal of creating and presenting program evaluations that are used and improve public enterprises. A handy supplement to core texts, Emison offers honest advice, emphasizing practices that focus on the client, content, control and communication of program evaluations.

Author Biography

Gerald Andrews Emison is associate professor of political science and public administration at Mississippi State University

Table of Contents

Tables, Figures, and Boxes	p. xi
Preface	p. xiii
Program Evaluations that Matter	p. 1
The Myth of Ceteris Paribus	p. 2
Practicing Program Evaluation in a Complex World	p. 4
Why Should You Read This Book?	p. 6
The Paradox of Applied Program Evaluation	p. 7
The Core Principles of the C4 Approach	p. 8
An X-Ray of the Book	p. 11
Our Purpose Is Program Evaluations That Matter	p. 11
The Landscape of Program Evaluation	p. 13
The Public Interest	p. 14
Pursuing the Public Interest through Rationality	p. 17
Delving into Program Evaluation	p. 21
The Four C's and the Landscape of Program Evaluation	p. 28
Understand Your Client	p. 29
Know What Your Client's Interests Are	p. 30
Know What Success Is	p. 36
Have a Principal Who Can Do Something	p. 39
Put the Evaluation in a Management Context	p. 42
Do the Right Thing	p. 45
Exercises and Discussion Questions	p. 47
Know the Content	p. 49
Build the Analysis on Facts	p. 50
Align Your Evidence and Your Conclusions	p. 53
Simplicity Always Trumps Elegance	p. 56
Don't Let the Illusion of the Perfect Drive Out the Reality of the Good	p. 59
Never Underestimate the Power of Accurate Description	p. 62
Exercises and Discussion Questions	p. 64
Control the Work	p. 67
Have a Real Work Plan	p. 68
Meet the Deadline	p. 71
Getting People with the Right Skills and Temperament	p. 74
Expect Something to Go Wrong	p. 77
Use More Than One Set of Eyes	p. 81
Know Your Core Values	p. 84
Exercises and Discussion Questions	p. 87
Communicate with Clarity	p. 89
Lead with Communicating Ideas Not Details	p. 90
Write and Speak in Short Words with Short Sentences	p. 92
Preview, Provide, and Review the Messages	p. 96
Visuals That Support, Not Supplant, the Briefing	p. 99
Exercises and Discussion Questions	p. 103
In the Long Run	p. 105
Personal Success	p. 106
Professional Success	p. 110
Endnotes	p. 113
Index	p. 117
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