Evaluation Fundamentals: Insights into Program Effectiveness, Quality, and Value

by Arlene G. Fink

Overview

The Third Edition of Arlene Fink’s Evaluation Fundamentals teaches the basic concepts and vocabulary necessary to do program evaluations and review the quality of evaluation research to make informed decisions about methods and outcomes to meet scientific and community needs. Dr. Fink thoroughly examines such issues as how to justify evaluation questions and set standards of effectiveness, design studies, identify best practices, and conduct ethical research. The book contains numerous examples of evaluation methods, as well as evaluation reports. It also includes practice exercises and suggested readings in print and online. Individuals can use the New Edition successfully on their own or in small or large groups.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781483324234
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	02/25/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Arlene Fink (PhD) is Professor of Medicine and Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles, and president of the Langley Research Institute. Her main interests include evaluation and survey research and the conduct of research literature reviews as well as the evaluation of their quality. Dr. Fink has conducted scores of evaluation studies in public health, medicine, and education. She is on the faculty of UCLA’s Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program and is a scientific and evaluation advisor to UCLA’s Gambling Studies and IMPACT (Improving Access, Counseling&Treatment for Californians with Prostate Cancer) programs. She consults nationally and internationally for agencies such as L’institut de Promotion del la Prévention Secondaire en Addictologie (IPPSA) in Paris, France, and Peninsula Health in Victoria, Australia. Professor Fink has taught and lectured extensively all over the world and is the author of more than 130 peer-reviewed articles and 15 textbooks.

Table of Contents

1. What Is Program Evaluation?
2. Evaluation Questions and Evidence of Merit
3. Evaluation Design: Creating the Structure
4. Sampling
5. Choosing Appropriate Data Sources
6. Evaluation Measures
7. Managing Evaluation Data
8. Analyzing Evaluation Data
9. Evaluation Reports

Editorial Reviews

The key strength of this book is the introduction of the key concepts, terms, and considerations that are needed for an evaluation study. These introductions are concise, understandable, and in logical order.

Richard C. Maurer

The text is extremely well organized. . . The concepts are easy to follow and the explanations are excellent.

Sharon K. Drake

Dr. Fink did an outstanding job of introducing concepts and practice of program evaluation in a way that anyone can understand. Those who are interested in program evaluation will enjoy this book regardless of their field of study.

Young Ik Cho