Despite recent emphasis on the use of randomized control trials (RCTs) for evaluating education interventions, in most areas of education research, observational methods remain the dominant approach for assessing program effects. Over the last three decades, the within-study comparison (WSC) design has emerged as a method for evaluating the…

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…

Much pedagogic research undertaken in geography and other disciplines relies on post-hoc methods such as surveys or interviews to investigate the student experience of higher education (often based on self-reports of behaviour). However, observation of students provides a far more direct route to obtain information about their behaviour, and there…

A case study is presented of embedding research in a final year undergraduate, field-based, physical geography module. The approach is holistic, whereby research-based learning activities simulate the full life cycle of research from inception through to peer review and publication. The learning, teaching and assessment strategy emphasizes the…

Cluster randomized trials (CRTs) have been widely used in field experiments treating a cluster of individuals as the unit of randomization. This study focused particularly on situations where CRTs are accompanied by a common complication, namely, treatment noncompliance or, more generally, intervention nonadherence. In CRTs, compliance may be…

Federal support for answers to the question "What is really going on out there?" has increased interest in the use of ethnography as a research method for evaluation of educational programs. Pros and cons of the use of ethnography for educational research are discussed. (PR)

The methodology of participant observation in evaluation research is described. The author cites examples of its use and includes references to additional sources of information. The characteristics of participant observation, appropriate circumstances for use, and specific techniques of this method are examined. (Author/DWH)

This paper describes administrative experimentation--a particular strategy and method of field testing or evaluation. Administrative experimentation can best be described as a specialized form of field testing, field experimentation or evaluation which emphasizes the dual role of administrator and experimenter. This method is first defined in…

Discusses the utility of field research techniques for the evaluation of educational programs in general and the Minneapolis South East Alternatives Program in particular. Examines relationships between theory, field research, and evaluation in education and describes a pattern of relationships that has evaluative utility and provides responsible…

The procedures for the selection of a test population to use and evaluate the short units developed by the Sociological Resources for the Social Studies Project (SRSS), "Episodes in Social Inquiry Series," are considered. They wanted to assess the effectiveness of the materials under a variety of circumstances: classes from different…

The role of the instructional materials center in evaluating materials is asserted and evaluation is defined as a media of compiling and analyzing information. Four evaluative methods are explained: field testing and comparing results; assessing rationale; measuring attitudinal and motivational variables; and describing the material and its use. A…

The applications of evaluation training in clinically oriented social interventions are examined. A joint program in evaluation and clinical psychology at Northwestern University is described. The core evaluation course, which emphasizes methodological study and substantial fieldwork, is discussed. (BS)

Practical methods for implementing true experimental designs in evaluation settings in which such designs are rarely used are presented. Particular attention is paid to educational settings. (Author/JKS)

Presents an overview of the goals and procedures of qualitative research, and discusses linkages between epistemologies and methodology. Reviews possible guidelines involved in the several steps of the evaluation process of qualitative research, emphasizing naturalistic research with families. Reviews common problems with qualitative research.…

Some aspects of fourth generation evaluation procedures that have been advocated by E. G. Guba and Y. S. Lincoln were examined empirically, with emphasis on areas where there have been discrepancies between theory and field-based experience. In fourth generation evaluation, the product of an evaluation is not a set of conclusions, recommendations,…