Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation.

• Author: Gross, John

This book consists of 25 independent but loosely related chapters on various techniques utilized to evaluate complex social programs in the government or nonprofit sector. The chapters are organized into four sections, and each chapter has a separate author.

Most of the discussion and examples throughout the book deal with evaluation of social service programs where there are particularly difficult evaluation issues. Evaluating a methadone treatment program or a program that provides prenatal care is more in tune with the book's direction than evaluation of a street overlay program or even emergency medical services.

The term "evaluation," as used in this book, tends to refer to a one-time process for the purpose of assessing program results and making improvements to or terminating a program. There is nothing cheap or quick in the techniques described. The authors stress practical, low-cost evaluations, but those are relative terms. More important to the authors is the need for valid results. They do not find quick-and-dirty ways to evaluate complex programs.

The intended audience includes managers, management analysts, policy analysts, and evaluators in state and local governments and school districts, among others. The book will be most valuable to those whose occupation primarily involves evaluation of complex social programs. The sometimes wordy and academic nature of the text will make it difficult reading and of limited value to many general managers. It is not a cookbook. A few charts of processes and procedures are included, but one quickly finds that they are illustrative examples only.

The book is divided into four sections: evaluation design, practical data collection procedures, practical data analysis, and planning and managing evaluation for maximum effectiveness. The evaluation design section raises most of the issues about the complex nature of evaluation, how easy it is to evaluate incorrectly, and why one should not always assume that the goals or intended results of a program are obvious. The book is academically oriented, but it is not naive in its approach. Considerable effort is spent exploring the realities that...