Realistic evaluation

Realistic Evaluation shows how program evaluation needs to be and can be bettered. It presents a profound yet highly readable critique of current evaluation practice and introduces a 'manifesto' and 'handbook' for a fresh approach. The main body of this book is devoted to the articulation of a new evaluation paradigm which promises greater validity and utility from the findings of evaluation studies. The authors, Ray Pawson and Nick Tilley, call this new approach 'Realistic Evaluation' reflecting the paradigm's foundation in scientific realist philosophy, its commitment to the idea that…