Focusing on ethical challenges in program evaluation, this innovative book features six case-study scenarios that end at a point where the evaluator faces a significant decision about how to proceed. For each case, two distinguished evaluators offer insights on the best course of action to choose, and why. What If? boxes modify the details of the scenarios, inviting readers to reflect on whether these changes alter the ethical implications of the case. Six additional cases are presented with questions that guide readers to develop their own ethical analyses. The book is organized to follow the progress of an evaluation, from the entry/contracting phase through the utilization of results.
Table of Contents:
1. Ethics and Evaluation
2. The Entry/Contracting Stage
Scenario 1: The Coordination Project
Commentary: Consumers, Culture, and Validity, Karen E. Kirkhart
Commentary: Whose Evaluation Is It, Anyway?, David M. Chavis
What If...?
Final Thoughts: The Coordination Project
Scenario 2: Just Say No?
Questions to Consider
3. Designing the Evaluation
Scenario 1: The Damp Parade?
Commentary: Everybody Talks about the Weather..., Melvin M. Mark
Commentary: No Rain Today, Gail V. Barrington
What If...?
Final Thoughts: The Damp Parade
Scenario 2: What’s under the Rock?
Questions to Consider
4. Data Collection
Scenario 1: The Folder
Commentary: Hold ’Em or Fold(er) ’Em?: What’s an Evaluator to Do?, Michael Hendricks
Commentary: Centering the Folder, sarita davis
What If…..?
Final Thoughts: The Folder
Scenario 2: Hideout
Questions to Consider
5. Data Analysis and Interpretation
Scenario 1: Knock, Knock, What’s There?
Commentary: What’s There: Confidence or Competence?, Leslie J. Cooksy
Commentary: Interpreting Effects, William R. Shadish
What If...?
Final Thoughts: Knock, Knock, What’s There?
Scenario 2: Things Happen
Questions to Consider
6. Communication of Results
Scenario 1: Mainstream
Commentary: Mainstreaming Process Evaluation: Ethical Issues in Reporting Interim Results, Mary Ann Scheirer
Commentary: Reporting Bad News: Challenges and Opportunities in an Ethical Dilemma, Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar and LucÃa Orellana-Damacela
What If...?
Final Thoughts: Mainstream
Scenario 2: Whose Voices?
Questions to Consider
7. Utilization of Results
Scenario 1: Nightly News
Commentary: Fixing the Spin on Evaluation, Laura C. Leviton
Commentary: From Substance Abuse to Evaluation Misuse: Is There a Way Out?, Sharon F. Rallis
What If...?
Final Thoughts: Nightly News
Scenario 2: Is My Job Done Yet?
Questions to Consider
8. Lessons Learned
Appendix A. The Guiding Principles for Evaluators
Appendix B. The Program Evaluation Standards, Second Edition
About the Author :
Michael Morris is Professor of Psychology at the University of New Haven, where he directs the Master's Program in Community Psychology. He served as the first editor of the Ethical Challenges section of the American Journal of Evaluation from 1998 to 2004. His publications have appeared in Evaluation Review, Evaluation and Program Planning, the American Journal of Community Psychology, and the Journal of Community of Psychology, among others. He coedited, with Jody Fitzpatrick, the New Directions for Evaluation volume devoted to Current and Emerging Ethical Challenges in Evaluation (1999). Dr. Morris is a member of the Editorial Advisory Boards of New Directions for Evaluation and the American Journal of Evaluation and has served as Chair of the Ethics Committee and the Public Affairs Committee of the American Evaluation Association. His other books include Poverty and Public Policy (with John Williamson) and Myths about the Powerless (with M. Brinton Lykes, Ramsay Liem, and Ali Banuazizi). A trainer in evaluation ethics throughout the United States and abroad, he received his PhD in community-social psychology from Boston College.
Review :
'A thoughtful, thorough approach. The book is well written, covers very important topics in the area of evaluation and assessment, and uses a creative approach to identify salient ethical issues in evaluation.' - "John H. Schuh, Distinguished Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Iowa State University , USA" 'Morris has enlisted a seasoned cadre of evaluators to reflect on his evocatively crafted ethical dilemmas. Leaving ponderous prose behind, the contributors write in an engaging, personal style as they weigh alternative courses of action in each scenario. The result is a lively journey through evaluation's ethical landscape that is also a genuinely instructive read.' - "Jennifer Greene, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana--Champaign, USA " 'This book is a great introduction to ethical dilemmas faced not only by evaluators, but also by their client organizations. The beauty of it is that it provides an opportunity to work out the different facets of how we do our work. Beyond the nuts and bolts of what to do, this book makes us think about how we do it. It encourages us to think it through and make decisions that support the integrity of evaluation.' -" Geni Cowan, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, California State University, Sacramento , USA" 'Realistic case studies with responses by different evaluators - both academics and practitioners - illustrate ethical dilemmas that can arise at every stage of the evaluation, and show how even experienced evaluators differ in the approaches and actions they take in each case.' - "Jody L. Fitzpatrick, coauthor of Program Evaluation: Alternative Approaches and Practical Guidelines" 'As evaluation practitioners know all too well, evaluation is a highly political activity. As such, it is fraught with ethical dilemmas. Morris and his colleagues are to be congratulated for providing the field with a comprehensive, thought-provoking, highly practical, and very useable book on the topic of evaluation ethics... Particularly helpful are the guiding and 'What If' questions, which are excellent tools to facilitate conversations with students, colleagues, and evaluation clients. This book should be on every evaluator's bookshelf.' -" Hallie Preskill, School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences, Claremont Graduate University; 2007 President, American Evaluation Association"
