Program Evaluation, Applied Research Methods, and similar courses in Psychology, Sociology, Nursing, Political Science, Education, Human Resources at the advanced undergraduate or master's levels.
This volume provides a comprehensive yet accessible introduction to the skills, attitudes and methods required to evaluate programs offered in public and private organizations. The authors stress the development of a program-improvement focus that begins with program conceptualization through implementation and analysis of outcomes and costs. They also provide detailed descriptions of methods for improving program evaluation reports and encouraging utilization.
Emil J. Posavac (Ph.D., University of Illinois, Champaign) is professor of Psychology at Loyola University of Chicago where he has served as director of the Applied Social Psychology Program and chairman of the Psychology Department. He has consulted with a number of public and private organizations. He has published sixty papers and chapters, edited or co-edited six volumes on program evaluation and applied social psychology, and written numerous evaluation reports for health care and educational institutions. He is currently completing a textbook (with Eugene B. Zechmeister) on statistical analysis based on emerging orientations that emphasize a more complete understanding and presentation of data. He is a member of the American Psychological Society, the Society for the Advancement of Social Psychology, and the American Evaluation Association, among other groups. In 1990, he was awarded the Myrdal Award by the American Evaluation Association for his contributions to the advancement of program evaluation practice.
Raymond G. Carey (Ph.D., Loyola University of Chicago) is principal of R. G. Carey Associates. He was the vice president of Parkside Associates, Inc., a member of the Lutheran General Health Care System (now Advocate Health Care). Widely published in the fields of health services and quality assurance, Dr. Carey has consulted on employee attitudes and quality assurance to hospitals throughout the U.S. In addition, he was a member of the Technical Advisory Panel of the Post-Acute Care Study for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He teaches quality improvement procedures for hospital managers seeking to improve the quality of their health services. Carey is the author of Managing to Win: Evaluating the Use of Human Resources in Health Care Organizations and Measuring Quality Improvement in Healthcare: A Guide to Statistical Process Control Applications (with Robert C. Lloyd).