Purpose: To evaluate pluralistic Extension and Advisory Services (EAS) systems performance and outcomes, and share the experiences made with applying a participatory semi-quantitative approach allowing for cross-country comparability. Design/methodology/approach: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) developed the…

Based on criteria drawn from a policy and functions statement, an evaluation was made of activities from 1956 to 1968 by the Office of Extension Studies (OES), a research unit attached to the Office of the Director of New York Cooperative Extension. Formulated in 1958, the statement covers the nature of Extension studies, planning principles for…

A technique to measure the quality of agricultural extension programs by the clientele was developed and tested. The study was conducted in three major steps. First, unstructured interviews of forty-eight farmers and agribusiness persons in seven Ohio counties were conducted to identify those factors they considered when evaluating their county's…

Evaluation procedures for the systematic measurement of Extension's total impact or effectiveness in rural Shawano County, Wisconsin, involved developing comprehensive descriptions of Extension programs from 1960 to 1975 to list types of activities and offerings, topics, attendances, and overviews of efforts in program areas like agriculture, home…

Two-thirds of the 33,000 residents of Shawano County, Wisconsin, live in rural areas; agricultural interests comprise 30% of the employment economy. Inventories of Extension programs from 1960 to 1975 and telephone interviews with county and community leaders and a random sample of 1192 county residents yielded data for this survey. Most adults…

The traditional method of conducting evaluation studies of agricultural extension programs is not sufficient when evaluating the impact on rural development, and must, therefore, be complemented by qualitative studies and careful evaluations of program objectives based on farmer needs. Traditional experimental evaluation studies do not register…

A 1968 national survey investigated the characteristics of 229 Cooperative Extension community resource development (CRD) workers, along with their perceptions of area and community problems and approaches, competencies to perform certain tasks, relationships with other development oriented agencies, and preferred criteria for evaluating programs.…

The authors have written this manual to aid workers in the Cooperative Extension Service of the United States to be better able to understand and apply the principles and methods of evaluation. The manual contains three sections which cover the nature and place of evaluation in extension work, the evaluation process, and the uses of evaluation…

Measurement of the organizational effectiveness of the Cooperative Extension Service (CES) could be enhanced by utilizing a multidimensional perspective in measuring outcomes of various organizational activities, particularly the Extension educational system of program development. Because multiple and conflicting environmental constraints, goals,…

The monograph, written for persons and organizations at state and local levels who share concern about learning activities for adults in rural America, explores characteristics of three traditional providers of nonformal education (the Cooperative Extension Service, public libraries, and community service divisions of community colleges), assesses…