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1. General Evaluation Resources
BJA Research and Evaluation (http://www.ncjp.org/BJA%20Center%20for%20Program%20Evaluation%20and%20Performance%20Measurement)
The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Center for Program Evaluation and Performance Measurement provides an excellent set of resources that are directed primarily at those evaluating criminal justice programs but informative for anyone doing program evaluation. The site contains a glossary (“terminology”), a hyperlinked guide to program evaluation, information on including evaluation in requests for research proposals, various reference materials, and numerous useful links.
CDC Evaluation Resources (https://www.cdc.gov/eval/index.htm)
The Program Performance and Evaluation Office of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlines the CDC approach to evaluation of public health actions and provides several useful links including a self-study guide to the evaluation of public health programs.
Internet Resources for Higher Education Outcomes Assessment (http://assessmentcommons.org/)
This site contains an extensive annotated list of links to resources such assessment handbooks, discussion groups, article archives, institutional assessment pages, and accrediting bodies. One can use the browser’s Find (Ctrl-F) function to locate information about a particular topic.
2. Guides to Evaluation Research
Designing Evaluations
(https://www.bja.gov/evaluation/guide/documents/documentbb.html)
One of several papers issued by the Program Evaluation and Methodology Division of the Government Accounting Office (GAO), this paper, according to the site, “addresses the logic of program evaluation designs. It provides a systematic approach to designing evaluations that takes into account the questions guiding a study, the constraints evaluators face in conducting it, and the information needs of its intended user.”
W. K. Kellogg Foundation Evaluation Handbook (https://www.bja.gov/evaluation/links/WK-Kellogg-Foundation.pdf )
Written primarily for project directors of W.K. Kellogg Foundation-funded projects, this is a useful general handbook for those with little or no evaluation experience. According to the Introduction, “it provides a framework for thinking about evaluation and outlines a blueprint for designing and conducting evaluations.”
User-Friendly Handbook for Mixed Method Evaluations (https://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf97153)
This handbook from the National Science Foundation is geared to the needs of experienced researchers who are novice evaluators. The authors aver that their guide was introduced “because of the recognition that by focusing primarily on quantitative techniques, evaluators may miss important parts of a story. Experienced evaluators have found that most often the best results are achieved through the use of mixed method evaluations, which combine quantitative and qualitative techniques.” Therefore, “this handbook was initiated to provide more information on qualitative techniques and discuss how they can be combined effectively with quantitative measures.”