Small-Scale Evaluation

Colin Robson is an Emeritus Professor in the School of Human & Health Sciences at the University  of Huddersfield. He directed a series of local, regional and national research and evaluation projects, mainly in aspects of special educational needs, at Huddersfield in association with the Hester Adrian Research Centre, University of Manchester. He subsequently was a supervisor for over twenty research students, mainly at Doctoral level, covering a wide range of disciplines - education, social work, management, music, and aspects of health, including nursing, midwifery and osteopathy, while developing and leading a postgraduate programe in Social Research and Evaluation. More recently he was, for over a decade, chief Consultant at the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation at OECD in Paris, for projects evaluating and comparing national systems for the education of students with disabilities, learning and behavioural difficulties and social disadvantages, and a follow-up project for Eurostat, the statistical arm of the European Union.

• Chapter 1: IntroductionWho is the book for?What do you need to be able to carry out an evaluation?Evaluation researchSmall-scale evaluation researchThe literature searchThe InternetUsing the bookA note on ′Tasks′Chapter 2: Evaluation: The What and the WhyWhat is evaluation?Why evaluate?Evaluation and social researchWhat do they think they want?What are they going to find credible?Chapter 3: The Advantages of CollaborationStakeholdersOther models of involvementUsing consultantsPersuading others to be involvedWhen is some form of participatory evaluation indicated?Chapter 4: Evaluation DesignsDifferent approaches to evaluationNeeds assessmentOutcome evaluationProcess evaluationCombining process and outcome approachesFormative and summative evaluationEfficiency evaluationReviewsProgram monitoringTheory-based evaluationAn interim summing upChapter 5: Designing Your EvaluationReviewing the ′literature′Research questionsMethods of data collectionData qualitySamplingPrespecified and emergent designsDoing a shoe-string evaluationChapter 6: Ethical and Political ConsiderationsEthical issuesThe problem of unintended consequencesEvaluations involving children and other vulnerable populationsEthical issues in online researchEthical boards and committeesThe politics of evaluationChapter 7: PracticalitiesTime budgetingGaining accessGetting organizedGetting help and supportChapter 8: Dealing with the DataCoding dataAnalysis and interpretation of quantitative dataAnalysis and interpretation of qualitative dataChapter 9: Communicating the FindingsEvaluation reportsFacilitating the implementation of evaluation findingsChapter 10: Taking it furtherFurther readingPostscriptAppendix A: Chapter TasksAppendix B: Simple Evaluations

A masterfully written text making complex issues approachable and very workable! Robson’s personable style as if engaged in a conversation with the reader entices and enlightens. It is rare to find a text that to such an extent combines user-friendliness and an engaging style without compromising scientific stringency, ethics or practical usefulness and common sense. This is indeed a treasure trove for students and professionals of any kind and everywhere whose study or work involves people in groups and organisations in need of development, change or just a healthy reality check on how their organisation is doing.