Program Evaluation: Pragmatic Methods for Social Work and Human Service Agencies

Be prepared for your future role in a service-oriented agency. This textbook provides practical guidance on program evaluation while avoiding replicating other course material. Drawing on over 40 years of subject knowledge, Allen Rubin describes outcome designs that are feasible for service-oriented agencies and that match the degree of certainty needed by key users of outcome evaluations. The utility and easy calculation of within-group effect sizes are outlined, which enhance the value of evaluations that lack control groups. Instructions are also given on how to write and disseminate an evaluation report in a way maximizes its chances of being used. Conducting focus group interviews and capitalising on the value of non-probabilitysamples will become second nature after following the effective and pragmatic advice mapped out chapter-by-chapter.

Allen Rubin has been teaching courses on program evaluation for over 40 years. He is the Kantambu Latting College Professor of Leadership and Change at the University of Houston's Graduate College of Social Work, past president of the Society for Social Work and Research, and a fellow in the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare.