This important issue of New Directions for Evaluation highlights social network analysis (SNA) methodology and its application within program evaluation.

The application of SNA is relatively new for mainstream evaluation, and like most other innovations, it has yet to be fully explored in this field. The volume aims to fill the gaps within SNA methodology exploration by first reviewing the foundations and development of network analysis within the social sciences and the field of evaluation. The focus then turns to the methodology. Who holds power in a network, and what measures...

This volume explores the issues with which evaluators of nonformal education programs (such as parks, zoos, community outreach organizations, and museums) struggle. These issues are not unique to nonformal programs and settings. Rather, they pose different sets of problems and solutions from those that face evaluators of traditional education programs. The authors address this topic from extensive experience as evaluators and education professionals who have worked in nonformal education settings.

Billions of dollars are spent annually on nonformal, informal, and nontraditional education...

This volume of New Directions for Evaluation focuses on evaluation of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs, with special emphasis on evaluation of STEM education initiatives.

STEM evaluation has always been important, given the issues facing public schools and the economic and social considerations of STEM fields. But because these fields today face a variety of concerns, this discussion of STEM evaluation is particularly timely. Evaluation advances may contribute to STEM fields by helping programs address the challenges they face. This volume presents...

One of the most divisive issues in the evaluation community has been the debate over which methodologies are to be considered adequate or commendable in addressing different evaluation questions in different settings. One form of this debate involved opposing camps of proponents of qualitative versus quantitative methods. A decade ago, there was some hope that the two sides of this debate, referred to as the paradigm war, were learning to respect each other. More recently, however, a federal agency priority for funding random assignment experimental studies has reignited the debate.

This...

Performance measurement is a very timely topic in the public and nonprofit sectors of the United States and in many countries around the world. Executive and legislative initiatives have required public managers to identify performance measures, set performance targets, and report on their progress toward meeting performance goals. Funders have similarly asked nonprofits to show results for the support provided them. Program managers and budget officers have eagerly sought help in designing performance measurement strategies and systems. Program evaluators can enhance current performance...

Strategy has emerged as a watchword of modern change efforts. Calls to be strategic are sounded in the private sector, government, philanthropy, and the not-for-profit sectors. Management experts stress the importance of strategic thinking. Change agents are urged to act strategically. Strategic planning has long been a mainstay of organizational development. Leaders in all sectors talk not about theories of change or logic models, but about being strategic: Strategic thinking. Strategic planning. Strategic results. Being strategic. Strategy execution. Effective strategies....

This issue delivers concrete suggestions for optimally using data visualization in evaluation, as well as suggestions for best practices in data visualization design. It focuses on specific quantitative and qualitative data visualization approaches that include data dashboards, graphic recording, and geographic information systems (GIS).

Readers will get a step-by-step process for designing an effective data dashboard system for programs and organizations, and various suggestions to improve their utility. The next section illustrates the role that graphic recording can play in...

Exploring the influence and application of Campbellian validity typology in the theory and practice of outcome evaluation, this volume addresses the strengths and weaknesses of this often controversial evaluation method and presents new perspectives for its use.

Editors Huey T. Chen, Stewart I. Donaldson and Melvin M. Mark provide a historical overview of the Campbellian typology adoption, contributions and criticism. Contributing authors propose strategies in developing a new perspective of validity typology for advancing validity in program evaluation including

1. Enhance...

This issue of New Directions for Evaluation (NDE) marks a milestone: the 25th anniversary of the American Evaluation Association (AEA). NDE is an official publication of AEA and has been a crucial means for the Association to foster and promote the professionalization of evaluation through thematic discussions of theory and practice in evaluation. NDE was first published in 1978 under the name New Directions for Program Evaluation, although the title became New Directions for Evaluation in 1995 in acknowledgement of the broader scope of evaluation.

Multisite evaluation settings differ from the single settings common to research on evaluation use. In addition to the primary intended users, there is another important group of potential evaluation users in settings where government agencies or large national or international foundations fund multisite projects: project leaders and local evaluators. If each project site is expected to take part in or support the overall program evaluation, then these individuals frequently serve as links between their projects and the larger cross-project evaluation of the funded program.

The field has...