Summary
In this chapter the emphasis is placed on formulating evaluation questions in an appropriate research design or strategy that will lead to robust and systematic practice in generating data. The choice of research methods is discussed from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives, with examples of how these methods have been used in small-scale evaluations by students.
Within the space of this chapter, it is possible to outline only some of the choices the evaluator has to make, and emphasis is given to the issues which face those conducting small-scale evaluation. This means the complexity of methodological issues has been simplified and the reader will need to consult the large and specialized literature on social research methods — for further details of questionnaire construction, interviewing, conducting focus groups, sampling and so on.
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Suggestions for Further Reading
On Evaluation
There are some excellent websites with many references to evaluation guides and ‘cookbooks,’ such as: The World Wide Evaluation Information Gateway http://www.policy-evaluation.org/
Resources for Methods in Evaluation and Social Research http://gsociology.icaap.org/methods/
The CAQDAS Networking Project http://caqdas.soc.surrey.ac.uk/
Herman, J.L. (ed) (1998) The Program Evaluation Kit, 2nd edn. Sage, Newbury Park, CA. An extensive collection of resources for all aspects of evaluation from start to finish. In addition to those sources cited in the chapter, the following may also be found helpful
On Questionnaires and Quantitative Methods
Balnaves, M. and Caputi, P. (2001) Introduction to Quantitative Research Methods. Sage, London.
Converse, J. M. and Presser, S. (1986) Survey Questions: Handcrafting the Standardized Questionnaire. Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
Dillman, D. A. (1999) Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method, 2nd edn. Wiley, New York.
Oppenheim, A. N. (2000) Questionnaire Design, Interviewing and Attitude Measurement. Continuum, London.
Punch, K. F. (2003) Survey Research: The Basics, Sage, London.
On Qualitative Methods
Arksey, H. and Knight, P. (1999) Interviewing for Social Scientists. Sage, London.
Flick, U. (1998) An Introduction to Qualitative Research. Sage, London.
Wengraf, T. (2001) Qualitative Research Interviewing. Sage, London.
On Social Research Methods in General
Gilbert, N. (ed.) (1993) Researching Social Life. Sage, London.
Sapsford, R. and Jupp, V. (eds) (1996) Data Collection and Analysis. Sage, London.
Robson, C. (1993) Real World Research. Blackwell, Oxford.
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© 2004 Irene Hall and David Hall
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Hall, I., Hall, D. (2004). Planning Research. In: Evaluation and Social Research. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-91681-8_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-91681-8_4
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