Description
Stewart I. Donaldson is Professor and Chair of Psychology, Director of the Institute of Organizational and Program Evaluation Research, and Dean of the School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences at Claremont Graduate University. Dean Donaldson continues to develop and lead one of the most extensive and rigorous graduate programs specializing in applied psychological and evaluation science. He has taught numerous university courses, professional development workshops, and has mentored and coached more than 100 graduate students and working professionals during the past two decades. Dr. Donaldson has also provided organizational consulting, applied research, or program evaluation services to more than 100 different organizations. He has been Principal Investigator on more than 30 extramural grants and contracts to support research, evaluations, scholarship, and graduate students at Claremont Graduate University. Dr. Donaldson serves on the Editorial Boards of the American Journal of Evaluation, New Directions for Evaluation, and the Journal of Multidisciplinary Evaluation; is co-founder and leads the Southern California Evaluation Association; and served as Co-Chair of the Theory-Driven Evaluation and Program Theory Topical Interest Group of the American Evaluation Association for 8 years. He has authored or co-authored more than 200 evaluation reports, scientific journal articles, and chapters. Part I: Introduction 1. Examining the Backbone of Contemporary Evaluation Practice: Credible and Actionable Evidence – Stewart I. Donaldson 2. Social Inquiry Paradigms as a Frame for the Debate on Credible Evidence – Christina A. Christie and Dreolin Fleischer 3. How People Judge the Credibility of Information: Lessons for Evaluation From Cognitive and Information Sciences – Robin Lin Miller Part II: Credible and Actionable Evidence: The Role of Randomized Experiments 4. When Getting It Right Matters: The Struggle for Rigorous Evidence of Impact and to Increase Its Influence Continues – Gary T. Henry 5. Randomized Controlled Trials: A Gold Standard or Gold Plated? – Leonard Bickman and Stephanie M. Reich 6. Demythologizing Causation and Evidence – Michael Scriven Part III: Credible and Actionable Evidence: Perspectives From a Range of Evaluation Designs and Methods 7. When and How Qualitative Methods Provide Credible and Actionable Evidence: Reasoning With Rigor, Probity, and Transparency – Sharon F. Rallis 8. Seeing Is Believing: Using Images as Evidence in Evaluation – Sandra Mathison 9. Credibility, Policy Use, and the Evaluation Synthesis – Eleanor Chelimsky Part IV: Credible and Actionable Evidence: General Perspectives 10. How Evidence Earns Credibility in Evaluation – Jennifer C. Greene 11. Actionable Evidence in Context: Contextual Influences on Adequacy and Appropriateness of Method Choice in Evaluation – George Julnes and Debra Rog 12. Credible Evidence of Effectiveness: Necessary but Not Sufficient – Thomas A. Schwandt 13. Credible and Actionable Evidence: A Framework, Overview, and Suggestions for Future Practice and Research – Melvin M. Mark
