Research, Assessment, Education, Reference 

"Evaluation Theory, Models, and Applications" is designed for evaluators and students who need to develop a commanding knowledge of the evaluation field: its history, theory and standards, models and approaches, procedures, and inclusion of personnel as well as program evaluation. This important book shows how to choose from a growing array of program evaluation approaches. In one comprehensive resource, the authors have compiled vital information from the evaluation literature and draw on a wide range of practical experiences. Using this book, evaluators will be able to identify, analyze, and judge 26 evaluation approaches. The authors also show how to discriminate between legitimate and illicit approaches based on application of the Joint Committee Program Evaluation Standards. - from Amazon 

Introduction -- Overview of the evaluation field -- The nature of program evaluation theory -- Standards for program evaluations -- Personnel evaluation : the ghost in program evaluations -- Background for assessing evaluation approaches and models -- Pseudoevaluations -- Questions- and methods-oriented evaluation approaches [quasi-evaluation studies] -- Improvement- and accountability-oriented evaluation approaches -- Social agenda and advocacy approaches -- Eclectic evaluation approaches -- Best approaches for twenty-first-century evaluations -- The evaluation case : an evaluation of an innovative housing and community development project -- Experimental design -- Case study evaluations -- Daniel Stufflebeam's CIPP model for evaluation : an improvement/accountability approach -- Michael Scriven's consumer-oriented approach to evaluation -- Robert Stake's responsive/client-centered evaluation approach -- Michael Patton's utilization-focused evaluation -- Identifying and assessing evaluation opportunities -- First steps in addressing evaluation opportunities -- Designing evaluations -- Budgeting evaluations -- Contracting evaluations -- Collecting evaluative information -- Analyzing and synthesizing information -- Communicating evaluation findings -- Metaevaluation : evaluating evaluations. 

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.