ABSTRACT
Evaluation research, or program evaluation, is the application of social and behavioral research methods to assess the effectiveness of social programs or interventions. Evaluation research proceeds in five stages. The first stage is defining the program goals using needs assessment or solution identification and identifying the type of data needed to conduct the evaluation. The second stage is program monitoring, or ensuring that the program is carried out as designed by confirming that it reaches the intended client population and is properly administered. If implementation problems are identified, changes are made to bring the program back on track. The third stage is assessing program impact based on whether change has occurred, how important the change is, program costs, and the acceptability of the program to stakeholders. Careful attention must be paid to finding an appropriate control or comparison group. The fourth stage of evaluation research is efficiency analysis, which compares the program’s outcomes to its costs. The final stage of program evaluation is utilization of its results by policy makers. The chapter concludes with a discussion of change scores and their reliability.
