Written in a refreshing conversational style, this text thoroughly prepares students, program administrators, and new evaluators to conduct evaluations or to use them in their work. The book's question-driven focus and clear discussions about the importance of fostering evaluation use by building collaborative relationships with stakeholders set it apart from other available texts. In 26 concise sections, Marvin C. Alkin explores how to: articulate answerable evaluation questions, collect and analyze data using both quantitative and qualitative methods, and deal with contingencies that might alter the traditional sequence of an evaluation. Student-friendly features include handy bulleted recaps of each section, "Thinking Ahead" and "Next Steps" pointers, cautionary notes, annotated suggestions for further reading, and an in-depth case study that provides the basis for end-of-chapter exercises. Following an overview and a section on structure, this book contains the following: (A) What Is Evaluation?; (B) Why Do Evaluations?; (C) Who Does Evaluations?; (D) Who Are the Stakeholders for an Evaluation?; (E) How Are Positive Stakeholder Relationships Maintained?; (F) What Is the Organizational, Social, and Political Context?; (G) How Do You Describe the Program?; (H) How Do You "Understand" the Program?; (I) What Are the Questions/Issues to Be Addressed?; (J) Who Provides Data?; (K) What Are Instruments for Collecting Quantitative Data?; (L) What Are Instruments for Collecting Qualitative Data?; (M) What Are the Logistics of Data Collection?; (N) Are the Questions Evaluable (Able to Be Evaluated)?; (O) What Is the Evaluation Plan (Process Measures)?; (P) What Is the Evaluation Plan (Outcome Measures)?; (Q) What Is the Evaluation Plan (Procedures and Agreements)?; (R) How Are Quantitative Data Analyzed?; (S) How Are Qualitative Data Analyzed?; (T) How Do Analyzed Data Answer Questions?; (U) How Are Evaluation Results Reported?; (V) What Is the Evaluator's Role in Helping Evaluations to Be Used?; (W) How Are Evaluations Managed?; (X) What Are the Evaluation Standards and Codes of Behavior?; (Y) How Are Costs Analyzed?; and (Z) How Can You Embark on a Program to Learn More about Evaluation?