Free-listing is a quick, semi-quantitative methodology commonly used by anthropologists to uncover information within a cultural domain. In this method note, we review how anthropologists have used free-listing in a variety of research settings. We then apply the social-ecological framework to describe how free-listing can be used for formative,…

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the Five-Level Qualitative Data Analysis (5LQDA) method for ATLAS.ti as a way to intentionally design methodological approaches applicable to the field of evaluation. To demonstrate my analytical process using ATLAS.ti, I use examples from an existing evaluation of a STEM Peer Learning Assistant program.…

Since 2003, the Oral History Project Team has conducted interviews with individuals who have made particularly noteworthy contributions to the theory and practice of evaluation. In 2013, Mel Mark, Valerie Caracelli, and Miles McNall sat with Thomas Cook in Washington, D.C., during the American Evaluation Association (AEA) annual conference. The…

Evaluation research conducted in agencies that sanction law violators is often challenging and due process may preclude evaluators from using experimental methods in traditional criminal justice agencies such as police, courts, and corrections. However, administrative agencies often deal with the same population but are not bound by due process…

Although evaluation researchers frequently make use of focus groups and individual interviews as sources of qualitative data, there has been far less attention to dyadic interviews that create a conversation between two research participants. This article describes dyadic interviews as a format that shares many of the advantages of focus groups,…

Our understanding of programs is enhanced when trained, skilled, and observant evaluators go "into the field"--the real world where programs are conducted--paying attention to what's going on, systematically documenting what they see, and reporting what they learn. The article opens by presenting and illustrating twelve reasons for…

In this article, we test an alternative approach to creating a counterfactual basis for estimating individual and average treatment effects. Instead of using control/comparison groups or before-measures, the so-called Counterfactual as Self-Estimated by Program Participants (CSEPP) relies on program participants' self-estimations of their own…

Sound evaluation planning requires numerous decisions about how constructs in a program theory will be translated into measures and instruments that produce evaluation data. This article, the first in a dialogue exchange, examines how decisions about measurement are (and should be) made, especially in the context of small-scale local program…

This article proposes an innovative approach to estimating the counterfactual without the necessity of generating information from either a control group or a before-measure. Building on the idea that program participants are capable of estimating the hypothetical state they would be in had they not participated, the basics of the Roy-Rubin model…

The growth in the availability of longitudinal data--data collected over time on the same individuals--as part of program evaluations has opened up exciting possibilities for evaluators to ask more nuanced questions about how individuals' outcomes change over time. However, in order to leverage longitudinal data to glean these important insights,…

This study addresses the central question "How do evaluators' background characteristics relate to their evaluation design choices?" Evaluators were provided with a fictitious description of a school-based program and asked to design an evaluation of that program. Relevant background characteristics such as level of experience,…

Although the general conceptual basis appeared far earlier, theory-driven evaluation came to prominence only a few decades ago with the appearance of Chen's 1990 book "Theory-Driven Evaluations." Since that time, the approach has attracted many supporters as well as detractors. In this paper, 45 cases of theory-driven evaluations, published over a…

What kinds of ethical dilemmas do people who are new to the profession of evaluation face? Are they different from the challenges faced by more experienced evaluators? What strategies do they use to resolve them? These questions were the starting point for the essays included in this issue of the Ethical Challenges section. The essays were written…

Evaluation practice has grown in leaps and bounds in recent years. In contrast, the most recent survey data suggest that there has been a sharp decline in the number and strength of preservice evaluation training programs in the United States. In an effort to further understand this curious trend, an alternative methodology was used to examine the…

How do evaluation practitioners make choices when they evaluate a program? What function do evaluation theories play in practice? In this article, I report on an exploratory study that examined evaluation practices in France. The research began with observations of practitioners' activities, with a particular focus on the phases of evaluation…