William F. Theobald

The Evaluation of Human Service Programs provides a synthesis of the problems involved in planning, designing and conducting evaluation studies in health care, education, social service, planning, protection agency, cultural, recreation and parks, public administration and other human services. Three major purposes of the book are: (1) to present in one volume the current literature, methodology and research on human service evaluation which can only be found in a potpourri of documents and reports; (2) to identify serious weaknesses in the literature and to provide viable alternatives to program assessment; and (3) to illustrate a variety of specific examples that have assessed the effectiveness of human service programs. This book includes promising conceptual frameworks proposed in program evaluation and offers practical techniques for conducting evaluation studies.

While the thrust of this book is primarily intended to serve as an introduction to program evaluation for college and university students, it can also serve as a basic or supplemental text for programming or management courses where evaluation research is presented as a management tool.

In addition, the material is designed to help local human service agencies develop or improve their program evaluation capabilities. It is aimed at central staff and operating personnel, as well as the overall manager or administrator.