Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation

by Joseph S. Wholey, Harry P. Hatry, Kathryn E. Newcomer

Praise for the third edition of the Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation "Mix three of the most highly regarded evaluators with a team of talented contributors, and you end up with an exceedingly practical and useful handbook that belongs on the reference shelf of every evaluator as well as program and policy officials." —Jonathan D. Breul, executive director, IBM Center for The Business of Government "Joe Wholey and his colleagues have done it again—a remarkably comprehensive, thoughtful, and interesting guide to the evaluation process and its context that should be useful to sponsors, users, and practitioners alike." —Eleanor Chelimsky, former U.S. Assistant Comptroller General for Program Evaluation and Methodology "Students and practitioners of public policy and administration are fortunate that the leading scholars on evaluation have updated their outstanding book. This third edition of the Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation will prove once again to be an invaluable resource in the classroom and on the front lines for a public service under increasing pressure to do more with less."—Paul L. Posner, director, public administration, George Mason University, and immediate former president, the American Society of Public Administration "The third edition of the Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation reflects the evolving nature of the field, while maintaining its value as a guide to the foundational skills needed for evaluation." —Leslie J. Cooksy, current president, the American Evaluation Association "This third edition is even more of a must-have book than its earlier incarnations—for academics to give their students a comprehensive overview of the field, for practitioners to use as a reference to the best minds on each topic, and for evaluation funders and consumers to learn what is possible and what they should expect. I've been in evaluation for 35 years, and I used the first and second editions all the time."—Michael Hendricks, Ph.D., independent evaluation consultant

Genres: Nonfiction, Research, Research Methods

752 pages, Hardcover

First published June 2, 1994

Reviews

[fc7reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was required reading for a course. I found it dry and did not enjoy reading it. I cannot deny, however, that it left me with a much better grasp on and knowledge of the topic of program evaluation.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this during my masters program, and it was pretty foundational for me, in understanding program evaluation. A few years later I would study under Newcomer (one of the authors), and apply a lot of this knowledge to my work at GAO.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very thorough and gives just about all the information you could need related to program evaluation. It wasn't the right choice for my course this semester though, as it was a bit overwhelming for my students to get through.

[Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really useful and relevant if you are into evaluation! I would have appreciated more cases or practical applications, but I made it through this thing (and the class it was for, almost) and that’s what matters.

Thank you for your service toward my reading goal 🫡

[Katterley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave me some great ideas, and really helped me expand and solidify ideas that I already had. I believe what I've learned will help me write better grants as well as develop better program evaluations. I'm excited about the possibilities!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great resource if you are a program evaluator or need find one or choose from several RFPs.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very dry but practical information on evaluating a program.

[Jeffrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

With a title like that it has to be...nope, it's still about program evaluation.