The Second Edition of Practical Program Evaluation shows readers how to systematically identify stakeholders' needs in order to select the evaluation options best suited to meet those needs. Within his discussion of the various evaluation types, Huey T. Chen details a range of evaluation approaches suitable for use across a program's life cycle. At the core of program evaluation is its body of concepts, theories, and methods. This revised edition provides an overview of these, and includes expanded coverage of both introductory and more cutting-edge techniques within six new chapters. Illustrated throughout with real-world examples that bring the material to life, the Second Edition provides many new tools to enrich the evaluator's toolbox.
"In this eminently readable book, Chen presents a strong matrix framework for conceptualizing a full range of evaluation strategies and approaches... The writing is exceptionally clear, accessible to novice evaluators, and, because it is fair-minded and principled, of relevance to seasoned evaluators as well." --
Jennifer Greene,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign "Professor Chen′s
Second Edition of
Practical Program Evaluation sets a new standard for providing a variety of systematic frameworks for conducting high quality program evaluations. The readers will come away with a detailed understanding of both conventional and cutting-edge approaches. It is a must-read for practicing program evaluators, evaluation scholars, and students of evaluation." --
Stewart I. Donaldson,
Claremont Graduate University "Chen brings decades of evaluation and experience to this new edition. He continues his innovative and pragmatic thinking about evaluation, including identifying, constructing, and testing theories that can work in practice. Dr. Chen shows how to blend formative and summative evaluation, process and outcome evaluation, theory and action, and much more." --
R. Burke Johnson,
University of South Alabama "Dr. Chen's latest effort offers evaluators a thoughtful expansion on the topics addressed in
Practical Program Evaluation (2005) in terms of program theory, logic modeling, and his evaluation typology. New chapters gleaned from the field reveal solution sets for overcoming challenges in a variety of contexts while still balancing scientific and stakeholder needs. This new work provides a solid foundation for the further development of an evaluator's acumen." --
Gregg M. Gascon,
Ohio State University "Chen has the best conceptual framework, and the quality of his writing and analysis are superb. He takes the reader through the essential steps in evaluation, with particularly valuable treatment of stakeholder involvement." --
Mario A. Rivera,
University of New Mexico
Huey T. Chen is professor of the Department of Public Health and director of the Center for Applied Research and Evaluation in the College of Health Professions at Mercer University. He previously served as branch chief and senior evaluation scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Chen has worked with community organizations, health-related agencies, government agencies, and educational institutions. He has conducted both large-scale and small-scale evaluations in the United States and internationally, including evaluating a drug abuse treatment program and a youth service program in Ohio, a carbon monoxide ordinance in North Carolina, a community health initiative in New Jersey, a juvenile delinquency prevention and treatment policy in Taiwan, and an HIV prevention and care initiative in China. He has written extensively on program theory, theory-driven evaluation, the bottom-up evaluation approach, and the integrated evaluation perspective. In addition to publishing over 70 articles in peer-reviewed journals, he is the author of several evaluation books. His book Theory-Driven Evaluations (1990, SAGE) is seen as one of the landmarks in program evaluation. Dr. Chen serves on the editorial advisory boards of Evaluation and Program Planning and is a winner of the American Evaluation Association's Lazarsfeld Evaluation Theory Award and of the Senior Biomedical Service Award from the CDC for his evaluation work.
