'This handbook thoroughly covers all aspects of evaluation, yet isn't too technical to understand. It offers everything an organization needs to know to get the most out of evaluation' - Nonprofit World

The Evaluation of Policies, Programs and Practices - Melvin M Mark, Jennifer C Greene and Ian Shaw An IntroductionPART ONE: ROLE AND PURPOSE OF EVALUATION IN SOCIETYThe Purposes of Evaluation in a Democratic Society - Eleanor ChelimskyRoles for Theory in Contemporary Evaluation Practice - Stewart I Donaldson and Mark W Lipsey Developing Practical KnowledgeEvaluation for Practice Improvement and Organizational Learning - Patricia J Rogers and Bob WilliamsEvaluation and the Study of Lived Experience - Thomas A Schwandt and Holli BurgonEvaluation, Democracy and Social Change - Jennifer C GreeneEvaluation after Disenchantment? Five Issues Shaping the Role of Evaluation in Society - Peter Dahler-LarsenPART TWO: EVALUATION AS A SOCIAL PRACTICEGovernment as Structural Context for Evaluation - Phil Davies, Kathryn Newcomer and Haluk SoydanThe Social Relations of Evaluation - Tineke A AbmaIntellectual Contexts - John Stevenson and David ThomasThe Relationship between Evaluation and Politics - Ove Karlsson Vestman and Ross F ConnerEthics in Evaluation - Helen SimonsA Comparative Analysis of Evaluation Utilization and Its Cognate Fields of Inquiry - J Bradley Cousins and Lyn M Shulha Current Issues and TrendsContextual Challenges for Evaluation Practice - Elliot SternPART THREE: THE PRACTICE OF EVALUATIONMethods for Policymaking and Knowledge Development Evaluations - Melvin M Mark and Gary T HenryEmbedding Improvements, Lived Experience and Social Justice in Evaluation Practice - Elizabeth Whitmore et alManaging Evaluations - Robert Walker and Michael WisemanCommunicating Evaluation - Marvin C Alkin, Christina A Christie and Mike RoseOn Discerning Quality in Evaluation - Robert E Stake and Thomas A SchwandtThe Practice of Evaluation: Challenges and New Directions - Lois-ellin DattaPART FOUR: DOMAINS OF EVALUATION PRACTICEEvaluation in Education - David NevoEvaluation of Health Services: Reflections on Practice - Andrew LongSocial Work and the Human Services - Ian Shaw with Carol T Mowbray and Hazel QureshiEvaluation in Criminal Justice - Nick Tilley and Alan ClarkeEvaluation of Development Interventions and Humanitarian Action - Osvaldo Feinstein and Tony BeckEvidence-Based Evaluation in Different Professional Domains - Alan Clarke Similarities, Differences and Challenges