Concept Mapping for Planning and Evaluation (Applied Social Research Methods)

"At last, an up-to-date, how-to-text on concept mapping in evaluation!...Mary Kane and William Trochim, instrumental in the development and promotion of concept mapping, have finally produced such book, which will enable experienced evaluators and program planners to add concept mapping to their suite of methods."
―Rick Cummings, Evaluation Journal of Australasia

Concept mapping is a methodology for mapping ideas that integrates input from multiple sources with differing expertise or interest, creates maps with multivariate data analyses that depict the composite thinking of the group, and yields data that allows for comparisons across rating criteria, stakeholder groups, different points in time, etc. to aid in targeted planning, implementation strategies, and evaluation.  Group concept mapping is related to the growing interest in the role that theory plays in planning and evaluation.

Concept Mapping for Planning and Evaluation is a thorough, accessible guide to concept mapping for social or organizational researchers in any context.  The volume describes the history of structured conceptualization--a most useful form of concept mapping.  It also highlights the advantages that group or community concept mapping has over other kinds of group decision processes.  With straightforward language and useful examples from the authors′ 40 combined years of creating and working with this process, the book describes in detail the six major steps in the conduct of group concept mapping, and shares both the process of concept mapping and the equally important facilitation and guidance techniques that the authors have developed.  Examples from work with clients like the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, and state government, as well as interesting examples from concept mapping in social research contexts, illustrate each step in the process.  Each chapter provides work sheets for readers to create their own concept mapping plans.  References that provide recommendations for further reading are included, as well as contact information for research guidance.

Key Features:

• Provides a complete guide to the concept mapping methodology and strategies behind using it for a broad range of social scientists -- including students, researchers, and practitioners.
• Pays special attention to the issues facing the facilitator of a concept mapping project, where the authors share considerable real-world experience in planning and implementing these projects, together with extensive content on the technical underpinnings of this method and its key issues in analysis and results interpretation.
• Features closing chapters on using concept mapping in planning and evaluation which show some of the broad range of how concept mapping can be applied in practice, together with detailed examples from actual practice.
• Includes forms for readers to use in their own concept mapping activities.

Mary Kane, MSLIS, is President of Concept Systems, Inc., a social research and evaluation firm specializing in capturing the knowledge and opinions of people and agencies to improve organizations, cultures and environments. Ms. Kane assesses and addresses the needs of local, national and international agencies, guiding government offices, foundations, professional associations, corporations and academic and research institutions to awareness, consensus and decisions. A special emphasis in Mary’s work is creating awareness of “group wisdom” in a community or organization, and guiding groups to harness collective knowledge to produce meaningful, measurable and useful outcomes for program, policy and population change.  Ms. Kane is author or co-author of many publications on the applications of Group Concept Mapping (GCM) in organizational decision-making and strategic planning and evaluation.  Her current research focuses on “Valuing Voice” in underrepresented communities to support sustainable change; and expanding the definition of competencies for evaluation.  As first author of the authoritative text on concept mapping, Concept Mapping for Planning and Evaluation, Mary was able to use her deep knowledge in partnership with Dr. Rosas to create, in this volume, an exciting expansion of GCM’s story


Prof. Trochim is the Director of Evaluation for the Weill Cornell Clinical and Translational Science Center -- a collaboration of Weill Cornell Medical College, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, The Hospital for Special Surgery, Hunter College and Cornell Cooperative Extension -- and participates actively in the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awards national evaluation. He is developing evaluation systems for the HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials Networks of the Division of AIDS (DAIDS) of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). He is actively engaged in research with the National Science Foundation incorporating systems approaches in the evaluation of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education programs. And, as Director of Evaluation for Extension and Outreach, Prof. Trochim works with Cornell University Cooperative Extension programs throughout New York State on planning and implementing evaluation systems for their outreach and education programs.