Evaluation Essentials (3rd Edition) From A to Z

Beloved for its conversational style and reliable advice, this text is now in a revised and
updated third edition, reflecting key developments in evaluation. It includes expanded
coverage of equity and social justice issues, values and cost analysis, visualizing
qualitative data with software, and more. Twenty-six concise chapters, or "sessions,"
give students, applied researchers, and program administrators a solid foundation for
conducting or using evaluations. Covering both quantitative and qualitative methods,
the book emphasizes fostering evaluation use. It shows how to build collaborative
relationships with users; formulate answerable evaluation questions; deal with
contingencies that might alter the traditional sequence of an evaluation; and collect,
analyze, and report data. Student-friendly features throughout the sessions include
titles written as questions, bulleted recaps, "Thinking Ahead" and "Next Steps"
pointers, cautionary notes, and annotated suggestions for further reading. An in-depth
case study provides the basis for end-of-session practice exercises.

New to This Edition
*New sessions on context-sensitive evaluation, including the organizational,
sociopolitical, and community contexts of a program.
*New or expanded discussions of timely topics: identifying evaluation decision makers,
analyzing program costs, coding and visualizing qualitative data with software, and
more.
*Updated suggestions for further reading and discussion in every chapter.


•Steady-selling text and reference, updated; 30% new material includes expanded
coverage of equity and social justice issues, updated data analysis chapters, and more.
•Conversational, concise, and savvy–– eases the reader into conducting evaluations.
•Unique in blending methodological guidance with a focus on relationship building.
•Alkin, a leading authority, is cofounder of UCLA's Center for the Study of Evaluation.
•Examples cover multiple disciplines: education, psychology, health care, social
services, and others.