Writing a bibliography in the research report

Again, there are several well-established systems for writing a bibliography and your choice is dependent upon the preference of the discipline and university. In the social sciences some of the most commonly used ones are (Longyear 1983: 83): the Harvard system; the american psychological association system; the american Medical association system; the McGraw-Hill system;

What is evaluation?

If you go through the literature on evaluation research, you will come across many differ­ent definitions. Below are some definitions that have been selected to highlight the various dimensions of evaluation. According to Rossi, Freeman and Lipsey (1999: 4): ‘Program evalu­ation is the use of social research procedures to systematically investigate the effectiveness of

Why evaluation?

Suppose you are working in a human service agency. At some point in the course of your work, questions may come to your mind about the appropriateness of your service, its effec­tiveness, why some people like or benefit from it and others do not, how it can be improved, what sort of workload a

Intervention development evaluation process

To understand the evaluation process for an intervention, it is important that you also know how it is linked to the development of an intervention. The intervention-development— evaluation process is divided into four phases (Figure 18.2): needs assessment; intervention/programme development; intervention/programme execution; intervention/programme evaluation. The development of an intervention usually starts with an assessment

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Perspectives in the classification of evaluation studies

The various types of evaluation can be looked at from two perspectives: the focus of the evaluation; the philosophical base that underpins an evaluation. It is important to remember that these perspectives are not mutually exclusive. All evaluations categorised from the viewpoint of focus of evaluation have a philosophical base underpinning them, and so

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Types of evaluation from a focus perspective

From the perspective of the focus of evaluation there are four types of evaluation: programme/ intervention planning, process/monitoring, impact/outcome and cost-benefit/cost-effectiveness. Each type addresses a main and significantly different issue. Evaluation for planning addresses the issue of establishing the need for a programme or intervention; process evaluation empha­sises the evaluation of the process in

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Types of evaluation from a philosophical perspective

From a philosophical perspective, there are no specific models for or methods of evaluation. You use the same methods and models but the required information is gathered from dif­ferent people or aspects depending upon the philosophy that you subscribe to. Stufflebeam and Shinkfield’s book Systematic Evaluation: A Self-Instructional Guide to Theory and Practice is

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Undertaking an evaluation: the process

Like the research methodology model, which forms the basis of this book, the evaluation process is also based upon certain operational steps. It is important for you to remember that the order in the write-up of these steps is primarily to make it easier for you to understand the process. Once you are familiar

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Involving stakeholders in evaluation

Most evaluations have a number of stakeholders, ranging from consumers to experts in the area, including service providers and managers. It is important that all categories of stake­holder be involved at all stages of an evaluation. Failure to involve any group may hinder success in completion of the evaluation and seriously affect confidence in

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Ethics in evaluation

Being ethical is the core requirement of an evaluation. If for some reason you cannot be ethical, do not undertake the evaluation, as you will end up doing harm to others, and that is unethical. Although, as a good evaluator, you may have involved all the stakeholders in the planning and conduct of the

Defining Science

Attempts to define the word “science” offer many variations, none of which may be complete or fully satisfactory. The word “science,” a derivative from the Latin scientia, simply means knowledge. We know that any person with great knowledge is not necessarily a scientist, as we currently use the word. On the other hand, the

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Science: Play or Profession?

Apart from the definition(s), it is to be understood that science, per se, is not the theme of this book. There are many books and articles devoted to the definition, delineation, and explanation of what science is, to discussing what its aims and activities should be, and even to philosophizing about what its limitations

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Science and Research

The word “research,” like many others, has acquired a wide cur­rency over the past several decades. Relatively few people con­ducted research in the first half of the twentieth century. Those who were known to be doing research were looked upon as belonging to an elite class, often shrouded in mystery, not unlike the FBI

Varieties of Experimental Research

To experiment is to try, to look for, to confirm. A familiar exam­ple may make the meaning clear. After getting ready in the morn­ing to go to the office, I look for the keys. I can’t find them. I am mildly agitated. Thoughts of not getting to the office, of not get­ting the notes

Conventional Researchers

The most typical and common experimental works of our times, are the works of Research scientists and technologists employed in a career in private or government-supported institutions and orga­nizations, including the military Thousands of scientists and engineers in the making, namely registered graduate students working toward uni­versity degrees, such as an M.S. or Ph.D.

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Toward Definition

The following is a segment from the Dialogues of Plato1: Socrates: “What I asked you, my friend, was, What is piety? and you have not explained to me, to my satisfaction. You only tell me that what you are doing now, namely, prosecuting your father for murder, is a pious act.” After some cajoling

Defining “Definition”

How do we define “definition”? It is somewhat disappointing to learn that there is no one definition, acceptable to most, if not all, logicians. This surprise will soon disappear when we notice that several functions performed as a way of clarifying expressions (or statements), either completely with words or with combinations of words and

Common Terms Used in Definitions

Though the word “definition” itself defies definition, the com­ponents that constitute a definition are delimited fairly well as follows: Term,: Word or group of words, such as phrases, clauses, or one or more assertive sentences. To the extent that terms are defined, when need be, communication between or among researchers becomes precise. In the

Varieties of Definitions

1. Direct and B. Indirect Definitions Direct definitions are explicit in nature; hence, the definiens can replace the definiendum without any further need for elaboration or explanation. If a definition forms a part of a whole statement, and if after replacing the definiendum with the definiens, the statement can be repeated without any loss

Need for Definitions

We opened this chapter quoting the dialog of Socrates on defini­tion as a way of showing how definitions are created. The need for definition, according to many modern logicians, arises because of the possible effects of what are meant by the two words most often mentioned: “vagueness” and “ambiguity.” “Vagueness” itself may be understood