Evaluating and Valuing in Social Research

Evaluating and Valuing in Social Research
Author: Thomas A. Schwandt
Publisher: Guilford Publications
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2021-09-17
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 146254732X

Much applied research takes place as if complex social problems--and evaluations of interventions to address them--can be dealt with in a purely technical way. In contrast, this groundbreaking book offers an alternative approach that incorporates sustained, systematic reflection about researchers' values, what values research promotes, how decisions about what to value are made and by whom, and how judging the value of social interventions takes place. The authors offer practical and conceptual guidance to help researchers engage meaningfully with value conflicts and refine their capacity to engage in deliberative argumentation. Pedagogical features include a detailed evaluation case, "Bridge to Practice" exercises and annotated resources in most chapters, and an end-of-book glossary.

Evaluating and Valuing in Social Research

Evaluating and Valuing in Social Research
Author: Thomas A. Schwandt
Publisher: Guilford Publications
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2021-10-12
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1462547338

"This book offers conceptual and practical guidance to social researchers and evaluators who intend to navigate the tangled and complicated terrain of values, valuing, and evaluating. We focus on understanding how these phenomena and associated practices are at work in social research, what investigators can and should do in dealing with such matters, and how their actions relate to longstanding concerns about objectivity, impartiality, the nature and use of evidence, and the purpose(s) of applied social research. Our primary aim is to help researchers become more explicit about values, valuing and evaluative judgments in their practices and to refine their capacity to engage in deliberative argumentation guided by standards of reasonableness"--

Research Handbook on Program Evaluation

Research Handbook on Program Evaluation
Author: Kathryn E. Newcomer
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 729
Release: 2024-06-05
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 180392828X

In the Research Handbook on Program Evaluation, an impressive range of authors take stock of the history and current standing of key issues and debates in the evaluation field. Examining current literature of program evaluation, the Research Handbook assesses the field's status in a post-pandemic and social justice-oriented world, examining today’s theoretical and practical concerns and proposing how they might be resolved by future innovations. This title contains one or more Open Access chapters.

Being an Evaluator

Being an Evaluator
Author: Donna Podems
Publisher: Guilford Publications
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2018-11-23
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1462537804

Demystifying the evaluation journey, this is the first evaluation mentoring book that addresses the choices, roles, and challenges that evaluators must navigate in the real world. Experienced evaluator and trainer Donna R. Podems covers both conceptual and technical aspects of practice in a friendly, conversational style. She focuses not just on how to do evaluations but how to think like an evaluator, fostering reflective, ethical, and culturally sensitive practice. Extensive case examples illustrate the process of conceptualizing and implementing an evaluation--clarifying interventions, identifying beneficiaries, gathering data, discussing results, valuing, and developing recommendations. The differences (and connections) between research, evaluation, and monitoring are explored. Handy icons identify instructive features including self-study exercises, group activities, clarifying questions, facilitation and negotiation techniques, insider tips, advice, and resources. Purchasers can access a companion website to download and print reproducible materials for some of the activities and games described in the book.

Cases of Teachers' Data Use

Cases of Teachers' Data Use
Author: Nicole Barnes
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 195
Release: 2018-04-27
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1351676911

Cases of Teachers’ Data Use addresses applications of student data beyond theoretical, school-, and district-level examinations by presenting case studies of teachers’ data use in practice. Within the context of data-driven education reform policies, the authors examine the effective and ineffective ways that teachers make use of student data in instruction, evaluation, and planning. Promising practices, based on the empirical research presented, offer strategies and routines for sound data use that can be applied in schools. Chapters written by scholars from diverse methodological perspectives offer readers multiple lenses to use in considering issues of data use such that current theoretical assumptions may be challenged and the field advanced. This uniquely focused yet comprehensive work is an indispensable resource for researchers and students interested in classroom assessment and for professionals looking to support teachers’ use of student performance data for adaptive instruction.

Evaluation

Evaluation
Author: Peter Henry Rossi
Publisher: SAGE Publications, Incorporated
Total Pages: 360
Release: 1982-02
Genre: Law
ISBN:

Evaluation Roots

Evaluation Roots
Author: Marvin C. Alkin
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 441
Release: 2004-02-19
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0761928944

Initially, evaluation was derived from social science research methodology and accountability concerns. This book examines evaluation theories and traces their evolution with the point of view that theories build upon theories and, therefore, evaluation theories are related to each other.

Evaluation Foundations Revisited

Evaluation Foundations Revisited
Author: Thomas Schwandt
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2015-06-17
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 080479572X

Evaluation examines policies and programs across every arena of human endeavor, from efforts to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS to programs that drive national science policy. Relying on a vast array of methods, from qualitative interviewing to econometrics, it is a "transdiscipline," as opposed to a formal area of academic study. Accounting for these challenges, Evaluation Foundations Revisited offers an introduction for those seeking to better understand evaluation as a professional field. While the acquisition of methods and methodologies to meet the needs of certain projects is important, the foundation of evaluative practice rests on understanding complex issues to balance. Evaluation Foundations Revisited is an invitation to examine the intellectual, practical, and philosophical nexus that lies at the heart of evaluation. Thomas A. Schwandt shows how to critically engage with the assumptions that underlie how evaluators define and position their work, as well as how they argue for the usefulness of evaluation in society. He looks at issues such as the role of theory, how notions of value and valuing are understood, how evidence is used, how evaluation is related to politics, and what comprises scientific integrity. By coming to better understand the foundations of evaluation, readers will develop what Schwandt terms "a life of the mind of practice," which enables evaluators to draw on a more holistic view to develop reasoned arguments and well fitted techniques.

Mixed Methods Design in Evaluation

Mixed Methods Design in Evaluation
Author: Donna M. Mertens
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2017-07-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1506330673

In Mixed Methods Design in Evaluation, the first volume of SAGE's Evaluation in Practice Series, best-selling author Donna M. Mertens explores the meaning of mixed methods evaluation, its evolution over the last few decades, and the dominant philosophical frameworks that are influencing thought and practice in the field today. Four chapters explore evaluation of the effectiveness of interventions, development of instruments, systematic reviews, and policy evaluations, while an additional chapter covers evaluation approaches often required in specific contexts including gender responsive evaluations, needs assessment, and evaluations in conflict zones. Practical in nature, the book guides readers’ thinking about the design of mixed methods evaluations through the use of illustrative examples and explanations for further applications.