Utilization-Focused Evaluation

by Michael Quinn Patton

• ISBN13: 9781412958615
• ISBN10: 141295861X
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-06-18
• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc

Summary

The Fourth Edition of the bestselling Utilization-Focused Evaluation provides expert, detailed advice on conducting program evaluations from one of leading experts. Chock full of useful pedagogy-including a unique utilization-focused evaluation checklist-this book presents Michael Quinn Patton's distinctive opinions based on more than thirty years of experience.Key Features of the Fourth Edition Provides thoroughly updated materials including more international content; new references; new exhibits and sidebars; and new examples, stories, and cartoons Includes follow-up exercises at the end of each chapter Features a utilization-focused evaluation checklist Gives greater emphasis on mixed methods Analyzes the pluses and minuses of the increased emphasis on accountability and performance measurement in government at all levels Details the explosion of international evaluationIntended AudienceBoth theoretical and practical, this core text is an essential resource for students enrolled in Program Evaluation courses in a variety of disciplines-including public administration, government, social sciences, education, and management. Practitioners will also find this text invaluable.

Table of Contents

Toward More Useful Evaluations

Evaluation Use: Both Challenge and Mandate

What Is Utilization-Focused Evaluation? How Do You Get Started?

Fostering Intended Use by Intended Users: The Personal Factor

Intended Uses of Findings

Intended Process Uses: Impacts of Evaluative Thinking and Experiences

Focusing Evaluations: Choices, Options, and Decisions

Situational Evaluation: Being Active-Reactive-Interactive-Adaptive

Focusing on Outcomes: Beyond the Goals Clarification Game

Evaluation Focus Options: Developmental Evaluation and Other Alternatives

Implementation Evaluation: What Happened in the Program?

Conceptualizing the Intervention: Alternatives for Evaluating Theories of Change

Appropriate Methods

Evaluations Worth Using: Utilization-Focused Methods Decisions

The Paradigms Debate and a Utilization-Focused Synthesis

The Meanings and Reporting of Evaluation Findings: Analysis, Interpretation, Judgment, and Recommendations

Realities and Practicalities of Utilization-Focused Evaluation

Power, Politics, and Ethics

Utilization-Focused Evaluation: Processes and Premises

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