Essentials of Utilization-Focused Evaluation

Michael Quinn Patton is author of more than a dozen books on evaluation including Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods, 4th ed (2015), Blue Marble Evaluation (2020), Principles-Focused Evaluation (2018), Facilitating Evaluation (2018) and Developmental Evaluation (2011). Based in Minnesota, he was on the faculty of the University of Minnesota for 18 years and is a former president of the American Evaluation Association (AEA). Michael is a recipient of the Alva and Gunnar Myrdal Evaluation Practice Award, the Paul F. Lazarsfeld Evaluation Theory Award, and the Research on Evaluation Award, all from AEA He has also received the Lester F. Ward Distinguished Contribution to Applied and Clinical Sociology Award from the Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology. In 2021 he received the first Transformative Evaluator Award from EvalYouth. He is an active speaker, trainer, and workshop presenter who has conducted applied research and evaluation on a broad range of issues and has worked with organizations and programs at the international, national, state, provincial, and local levels. Michael has three children—a musician, an engineer, and an evaluator—and four grandchildren. When not evaluating, he enjoys exploring the woods and rivers of Minnesota, where he lives.

• PrefaceIntroductionStep 1. Assess and Build Program and Organizational Readiness for Utilization-Focused EvaluationStep 2. Assess and Enhance Evaluator Readiness and Competence to Undertake a Utilization-Focused EvaluationStep 3. Identify, Organize, and Engage Primary Intended Users: The Personal FactorStep 4. Situation Analysis Conducted Jointly With Primary Intended UsersStep 5. Identify and Prioritize Primary Intended Uses by Determining Priority PurposesStep 6. Consider and Build in Process Uses if and as AppropriateStep 7. Focus Priority Evaluation QuestionsStep 8. Check That Fundamental Areas for Evaluation Inquiry Are Being Adequately Addressed: Implementation, Outcomes, and Attribution QuestionsStep 9. Determine What Intervention Model or Theory of Change Is Being EvaluatedStep 10. Negotiate Appropriate Methods to Generate Credible Findings That Support Intended Use by Intended UsersStep 11. Make Sure Intended Users Understand Potential Methods Controversies and Their ImplicationsStep 12. Simulate Use of Findings: Evaluation′s Equivalent of a Dress RehearsalStep 13. Gather Data With Ongoing Attention to UseStep 14. Organize and Present the Data for Interpretation and Use by Primary Intended Users: Analysis, Interpretation, Judgment, and RecommendationsStep 15. Prepare an Evaluation Report to Facilitate Use and Disseminate Significant Findings to Expand InfluenceStep 16. Follow Up With Primary Intended Users to Facilitate and Enhance UseStep 17. Metaevaluation of Use: Be Aaccountable, Learn, and ImproveSummary and Conclusion

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