NCJ Number
49435
Date Published
1977
Length
25 pages
Annotation
THE IMPLICATIONS OF A PROPOSED DEFINITION OF EVALUATION RESEARCH AND ITS NATURE ARE DISCUSSED, AND AN OVERVIEW IS PROVIDED OF THE TASKS ENTAILED IN PLANNING AN EVALUATIVE STUDY.
Abstract
EVALUATION RESEARCH IS DEFINED AS 'FIRST AND FOREMOST, A PROCESS OF APPLYING SCIENTIFIC PROCEDURES TO ACCUMULATE RELIABLE AND VALID EVIDENCE ON THE MANNER AND EXTENT TO WHICH SPECIFIED ACTIVITIES PRODUCE PARTICULAR EFFECTS OR OUTCOMES.' COMPONENTS OF THE DEFINITION DISCUSSED ARE: (1) USE OF SCIENTIFIC PROCEDURES; (2) FOCUS ON PROCESS AND OUTCOMES; (3) NONRESTRICTION OF OUTCOMES TO GOALS; AND (4) CONSIDERATION OF INFORMATION NEEDS OF DECISIONMAKERS. THE GROWING INTEREST IN EVALUATION RESEARCH IS RELATED TO THE CONTRIBUTION IT IS EXPECTED TO MAKE TOWARD IMPROVED PLANNING, BETTER MANAGEMENT, AND GREATER ACCOUNTABILITY. WHILE THERE ARE MANY TYPES OF STUDIES WHICH CAN BE USED FOR THE PURPOSE OF PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT, EFFECTIVENESS EVALUATIONS ARE USUALLY REQUIRED AS THE BASIS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY. YET SUCH STUDIES MAKE STRINGENT ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT PRECONDITIONS: THAT THE PROGRAM IS CLEARLY ARTICULATED, THAT THE GOALS AND EFFECTS ARE CLEARLY SPECIFIED, AND THAT THE CAUSAL ASSUMPTIONS APPEAR PLAUSIBLE. THE NATURE OF THESE PRECONDITIONS AND THEIR RATIONALE ARE DISCUSSED. PROCEDURES ARE IDENTIFIED FOR DETERMINING THE EVALUABILITY OF A PROGRAM INCLUDING EVALUABILITY ASSESSMENT AND FORMATIVE RESEARCH. AN OVERVIEW OF THE PLANNING OF THE FORMAL EVALUATION STUDY IS PROVIDED. THE STEPS DISCUSSED ARE: (1) DETERMINING THE PURPOSES OF THE EVALUATION; (2) SPECIFYING THE VARIABLES; (3) DEVELOPING THE MEASURES -- INDICATORS, RELIABILITY, AND VALIDITY; (4) ADDRESSING DESIGN CONSIDERATION, INCLUDING INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL VALIDITY AND EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN; AND (5) UTILIZATION OF FINDINGS. (DAG)