Evaluation for the Real World
The Impact of Evidence in Policy Making
Distributed for Policy Press at the University of Bristol
Evaluation research findings should be a key element of the policymaking process, but in reality, they are often disregarded. Evaluation for the Real World examines the use—and nonuse—of evaluation research by decision makers. Analyzing the frameworks and criteria of various evaluation procedures, it highlights the impact evaluation has on public policy with an emphasis on the real world of decision making in the public sector and the political and economic pressures it faces. Assessing the work of influential academics in both the United States and UK, the authors formulate strong arguments for the adoption of a different approach to evaluation.
“This book provides a critical and long overdue analysis of the contribution of decades of evaluation research to policy making. The text is concise, comprehensive, objective, and eminently readable.”
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. Evaluation in the political and academic worlds
2. What is meant by evaluation?
3. Designing evaluations
4. Selecting evaluation criteria
5. Developments in economic evaluation
6. The impact of evaluation on decision making
7. The future for evaluation
8. Concluding thoughts
Index
Political Science: Public Policy
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