Participatory Evaluation in Youth and Community Work

Susan Cooper was a youth worker and a youth work manager for thirty years before joining Plymouth Marjons University, UK, as a senior lecturer and Programme Leader for undergraduate and postgraduate Youth and Community Work courses. She developed her expertise in participatory evaluation during her doctoral studies and has supported a range of youth work organisations in the UK and across Europe to develop their use of participatory evaluation.

• Introduction; What is youth work?; What are youth work outcomes?; Overview of book; PART I. Evaluation: Nature, Politics and Tensions; Chapter 1: What is Evaluation?; Unpacking ‘evaluation’; What is evaluation for?; Different paradigmatic approaches; The evolving nature of evaluation; Introducing ‘Theory of Change’; The problem with evaluation; Chapter 2: The Politics of Evaluation; The political context; Understanding ‘impact’; Shared measurement; What counts as ‘evidence’?; Chapter 3: Practitioners’ Tensions and Dilemmas; Generating data replaces ‘real’ work; Accounting systems are reductionist; Funder-led practice; Tensions between targets and authenticity; Tensions between targets and values; PART II. Participatory Evaluation; Chapter 4: What is Participatory Evaluation?; Defining participatory evaluation; Underpinning philosophy and values; Developments in participatory evaluation; Participation and empowerment; Models of participation; Making the case for participatory evaluation in youth and community work; Chapter 5: Participatory Evaluation Approaches; Similarities and distinguishing features; Empowerment evaluation; Empowerment evaluation in practice; Collaborative evaluation; Collaborative evaluation in practice; Democratic evaluation; Democratic evaluation in practice; The challenges associated with stakeholder involvement; Chapter 6: Transformative Evaluation; Rationale; Theoretical foundations; Transformative evaluation in practice; The four stages of Transformative Evaluation; Challenges associated with transformative evaluation; Tried and tested; Chapter 7: Learning in Participatory Evaluation; Learning and accountability: A dichotomy?; Learning in evaluation; Five types of ‘process use’; Learning in the moment; Learning through collective reflection; Empowerment; PART III. Participatory Evaluation in Practice; Chapter 8: Preparing for Evaluation; Clarifying and articulating purpose; Developing a theory of change; Considering ethics; Engaging stakeholders; Resources; Chapter 9: Data in Participatory Evaluation; Who ‘generates’ data?; What data are needed?; Quantitative and qualitative data; Issues of trustworthiness in participatory evaluation; Factors influencing decisions about data generation methods; Chapter 10: Methods for Generating Data; Questionnaires; Interviews; Observation; Story-telling; Chapter 11: Analysing Data; Approaches to data analysis; Analysing quantitative data; Analysing qualitative data; Content analysis; Coding data and generating themes; Content analysis in Transformative Evaluation; Involving stakeholders in data analysis; Chapter 12: Sharing Knowledge; Voice, audience and message; Writing an evaluation report; Other forms of sharing knowledge; Meta-evaluation: Sharing learning about evaluation; Conclusion; Index

'Bringing her extensive practice, research and teaching experience to the task, Susan Cooper provides an excellent and welcome treatise on participatory evaluation, confidently putting young people at the centre of the process. Offering a step by step method, this timely book will enable practitioners, not only in youth work but in the human services more widely, to incorporate evaluation as a core aspect of empowering practice.' - Dave Ward, Professor of Social and Community Studies, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK'Participation seems to be a taming force in evaluation, making it fit the youth work context. Using a participatory approach enables us to recognizing the value of different opinions and it gives people their say. But as Sue Cooper reminds us, participation is not just about evidence and youth work, but also one way of keeping democracy alive in modern society. Every politician should read this book.' - Anu Gretschel, Senior Researcher Ph.D., Finnish Youth Research Network, Finland