Realistic Evaluation - Softcover

Pawson, Ray; Tilley, Nick

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0761950095 ISBN 13: 9780761950097

Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd, 1997

Synopsis

Realistic Evaluation shows how programme evaluation needs to be, and can be bettered. It presents a profound yet highly readable critique of current evaluation practice, and goes on to introduce a `manifesto′ and `handbook′ for a fresh approach.

The main body of this book is devoted to the articulation of a new evaluation paradigm, which promises greater validity and utility from the findings of evaluation studies. The authors call this new approach `realistic evaluation′. The name reflects the paradigm′s foundation in scientific realist philosophy, its commitment to the idea that programmes deal with real problems rather than mere social constructions, and its primary intention, which is to inform realistic developm

About this title

About the Authors

Given my job title, it will come as no surprise that my main interest lies in research methodology. This does not quite bracket me with the technical nerds, however, for I have written widely on the philosophy and practice of research, covering methods qualitative and quantitative, pure and applied, contemporaneous and historical. There is a common ′realist′ thread underlying every word, albeit a modest, middle-range, empirically-rich kind of realism.

Nick Tilley is a professor in the UCL Department of Security and Crime Science, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Nottingham Trent University, and an adjunct professor at the Griffith Criminology Institute in Brisbane. His academic work has been devoted to developing and delivering theoretically informed applied social science. Specific interests lie in evaluation methodology, the international crime drop, problem-oriented policing, and situational crime prevention, about all of which he has published extensively. Books include Realistic Evaluation (1997, with Ray Pawson); Crime Prevention (2009); Economic Analysis and Efficiency in Policing. Criminal Justice and Crime Prevention: What Works? (2016, with Matthew Manning, Shane Johnson, Gabriel Wong, and Margarita Vorsina); and Reducing Burglary (2018, with Andromachi Tseloni and Rebecca Thompson). Nick was awarded an OBE for Services to Policing and Crime Reduction in 2005 and elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) in 2009.

Edition details

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0761950095
• ISBN 13: 9780761950097
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256