Evaluation has become a central tool in the development of contemporary social policy. Its widespread popularity is based on the need to provide evidence of the effectiveness of policies and programmes. This book sees evaluation as an inherently political activity, as much about forms of governance as scientific practice. Using a wide range of examples from neighbourhood renewal, health and social care and other aspects of social policy, it relates practical issues in evaluation design to their political contexts. With contributions from leading academics and evaluation practitioners, the book considers key issues in the politics of evaluation including: governance and evaluation; participatory evaluation; partnerships and evaluation; and learning from evaluation. The politics of evaluation is important reading for academics, social researchers, policy makers, service providers and professionals across the public services as well as professional evaluators. It will be a valuable resource for students on a range of social science and professional courses and those concerned with recent developments in social research methodology.

Evaluation is the process of distinguishing the worthwhile from the worthless, the precious from the useless: evaluation implies looking backward in order to be able to steer forward better. Written from a political science perspective, Public Policy and Program Evaluation provides an overview of the possibilities and limits of public sector evaluation.

Over the last several years, regular evaluation of development programs has become essential in measuring and understanding their true impact. Feminist and gender-sensitive evaluations have gradually emerged, drawing attention to existing inequities--gender, caste, class, location, and more--and the cumulative effect of these biases on daily life. Such evaluations are also deeply political; they explicitly acknowledge that gender-based inequalities exist, show how they remain embedded in society, and articulate ways to address them. Based on four years of research, Voices and Values offers critical insight into how gender, class, and nationality inflect and affect sociological research. It examines how feminist evaluations could make an effective contribution to new policy formulations oriented to gender and social equity. The essays here focus centrally on the structural roots of inequity: giving weight to all perspectives; adding value to marginalized groups and people under evaluation; and taking forward the findings of evaluation into advocacy for change. In doing so, each essay advances the understanding of feminist evaluation both conceptually and as practice.

Evaluation has become a central tool in the development of contemporary social policy. Its widespread popularity is based on the need to provide evidence of the effectiveness of policies and programmes. This book sees evaluation as an inherently political activity, as much about forms of governance as scientific practice. Using a wide range of examples from neighbourhood renewal, health and social care and other aspects of social policy, it relates practical issues in evaluation design to their political contexts.

Evaluation and politics are related in a number of ways. While programme evaluators have traditionally tried to be neutral, objective and scientific in their assessment of programmes, the results of evaluation are inherently political -- and are used by politicians, programme administrators, special interest groups and other stakeholders for political purposes. The contributors argue that since evaluation cannot be divorced from its political context, the political dimension must be understood in order to conduct effective evaluations.

Purposes of evaluation; Formulating the question and measuring the aswer; Design of the evaluation; The turbulent setting of the action program; Utilization of evaluation results.

RealWorld Evaluation: Working Under Budget, Time, Data, and Political Constraints addresses the challenges of conducting program evaluations in real-world contexts where evaluators and their clients face budget and time constraints. The book is organized around the authors’ seven-step model that has been tested in workshops and practice environments to help the evaluation implementers and managers make the best choices when faced with real world constraints. The Third Edition includes a new chapter on gender equality and women’s empowerment and discussion of digital technology and data science.