Recipient of a 2021 Most Promising New Textbook Award from the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA)

Evaluation in Today's World: Respecting Diversity, Improving Quality, and Promoting Usability is a timely and comprehensive textbook that guides students, practitioners, and users of evaluations in understanding evaluation purposes, theories, methodologies, and challenges within today's sociocultural and political context. Veronica G. Thomas and Patricia B. Campbell include discussions of evaluation history, frameworks, models, types, planning, and methods, through a social justice, diversity, and inclusive lens. The authors focus on ethics in diverse cultural contexts, help readers understand how social problems and programs get politicized and, sometimes, framed through a racialized lens, show how to engage stakeholders in the evaluation process, and communicate results in culturally appropriate ways.

Included with this title:

The password-protected Instructor Resource Site (formally known as SAGE Edge) offers access to all text-specific resources, including a test bank and editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint (R) slides.

About the Author
Veronica G. Thomas, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Human Development and Psychoeducational Studies at Howard University. She also serves as the Evaluation and Continuous Improvement (ECI) Director for the Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical Translational Sciences (GHUCCTS). Her research interests include culturally responsive evaluation, physical and psychological well-being of Black families, with particular emphasis on women and girls, and the academic and professional development of students of color. Over the years, Dr. Thomas has published work in numerous refereed journals including the American Journal of Evaluation, New Directions for Evaluation, Journal of Community Genetics, Journal of Black Psychology, International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling (British spelling), Family Relations, Adolescence, Educational Leadership, Journal of Adult Development, Review of Research in Education, Journal of Negro Education, Sex Roles, Journal of Social Psychology, Women and Health, and the Journal of the National Medical Association. Her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Education, and the Women's College Coalition. Dr. Thomas major professional associations include the American Evaluation Association (AEA), American Psychological Association (APA), and the American Educational Research Association (AERA). In 2019, she received the AEA Multiethnic Issues in Evaluation Scholarly Leader Award for scholarship that has contributed to social justice-oriented, equity-focused, and/or culturally responsive literature. Patricia B. Campbell, PhD, is the president of Campbell-Kibler Associates, Inc. She has been involved in research and evaluation with a focus on issues of race/ethnicity, gender and disability for many years. Formerly an associate professor of research, measurement and statistics at Georgia State University, Dr. Campbell is an Association for Women in Science (AWIS) Fellow and was awarded the Willystine Goodsell Award by the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the Betty Vetter Award by the Women in Engineering ProActive Network (WEPAN). Dr. Campbell has authored more than 100 publications including coauthoring Building Evaluation Capacity: Guide I Designing A Cross Project Evaluation and Guide II Collecting and Using Data in Cross-Project Evaluations; A Framework for Evaluating Impacts of Informal Science Education Projects, Good Schools in Poor Neighborhoods: Defying Demographics; Achieving Success"and The AAUW Report: How Schools Shortchange Girls.. Dr. Campbell's websites include www .BeyondRigor.org, which provides easy to use tips to improve the quality of evaluations with diverse populations and www.FairerScience.org which provides researcher and evaluators with tips and tools to more effectively communicate their diversity related research and evaluation findings to the media and the public. In addition Dr. Campbell participates in a variety professional activities include conducting educational evaluation and research training in South Africa and Uganda and serving as an expert witness in the Citadel sex discrimination case.

Reviews
Evaluation in Today's World: Respecting Diversity, Improving Quality, and Promoting Usability by Veronica Thomas and Patricia Campbell stands as a powerful resource for evaluation instructors, practitioners, students, and scholars who desire to understand why and how to conduct socially just and culturally responsive evaluation, and who are looking for an accessible entry point into the discipline as a whole. -- American Journal of Evaluation

"Very rarely are issues related to race, class and power discussed so eloquently and effectively within an evaluation text."

-- John Ridings

"Evaluation in Today's World is a much needed, useful and relevant text, which bridges the evaluation process and methods with our cultural, historical and political climate. It integrates diverse activities, methods and applications that will help prepare students to become successful future practitioners and evaluators."

-- Karen Tinsley

"Thomas and Campbell have taken topics that are often only alluded to in program evaluation texts, and brought them to the forefront, highlighting the importance of understanding the diversity of society when developing effective evaluations."

-- Marcus-Antonio Galeste

"Evaluation in Today's World covers the salient features of research and evaluation in clear language and includes the often overlooked impact of cultural awareness and understanding throughout the research process. In an increasingly multicultural and complex society, the authors have created a resource to help budding researchers evaluate their goals, needs, and biases as they enter this fascinating field."

-- Brenda S. Gerhardt

"This is the most comprehensive text on evaluation that I have seen. The section on ethics challenges students to reflect on their own beliefs and values, and how those might cause bias in evaluation."

-- Sandra Handwerk

"This text provides a strong voice to support the inclusion of social justice issues in evaluation planning, implementation, analysis, and reporting."

-- Debra J. Dirksen



Book Information
ISBN 9781544348162
Author Veronica G. Thomas
Format Paperback
Page Count 584
Imprint SAGE Publications Inc
Publisher SAGE Publications Inc
Weight(grams) 1240g