Cost-Inclusive Evaluation: Planning It, Doing It, Using It

Is a given treatment, intervention, or program worth it? How can a program do more or better with less? Evaluating the costs of a program can be the missing link between a superficial evaluation and one that will get changes made and funding delivered. In accessible language and without complex formulas, this book provides a roadmap for measuring program costs and outcomes and analyzing cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit, and cost-utility. Also explained are simplified ways to use economic appraisal methodologies--such as net present valuation, internal rate of return computation, and payback period determination--in a cost-inclusive evaluation. Instructive examples span a range of human services, education, and health care contexts. Other evaluator- and student-friendly features include helpful graphics, procedure steps, end-of-chapter discussion questions, a list of acronyms, and a glossary of key terms.
 

Nadini Persaud, PhD, CPA, CGA, is a tenured Lecturer in Evaluation in the Department of Management Studies at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados. She teaches primarily at the graduate level and has served as Coordinator of the Master of Science Program in Project Management and Evaluation. The recipient of a Fulbright scholarship, Dr. Persaud is an Advisory Council member for the Barbados Chapter of Chartered Professional Accountants Canada and a board member of Caribbean Evaluators International and the Faster Forward Fund. She also serves on several committees of the American Evaluation Association. Her research focuses on blending the tools of project management and accounting to improve the practice of professional evaluation. Dr. Persaud has published numerous journal articles and book chapters, as well as several books, and has presented over 20 conference papers on the importance of cost analysis in program evaluation.
 
Brian T. Yates, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Psychology at American University in Washington, DC. Working with colleagues in his Program Evaluation Research Lab (PERL) and other universities, Dr. Yates has applied his resources–activities–processes–outcomes analysis (RAPOA) model to measure and improve costs, cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit, and cost-utility of diverse health and human services and their accreditation processes. He has 100 publications, including many peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, a National Institute on Drug Abuse manual on cost-inclusive evaluation, and six books. At American University, Dr. Yates developed the Master's Program in General Psychology and served as Acting Chair of the Department of Psychology and as Associate Dean of Graduate Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. He has served as board member and Treasurer of the American Evaluation Association.