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Program Evaluation
Program evaluation is a systematic method for collecting, analyzing, and using information to answer questions about projects, policies and programs, particularly about their effectiveness and efficiency. In both the public and private sectors, stakeholders often want to know whether the programs they are funding, implementing, voting for, receiving or objecting to are producing the intended effect. While ''program evaluation'' first focuses around this definition, important considerations often include how much the program costs per participant, how the program could be improved, whether the program is worthwhile, whether there are better alternatives, if there are ''unintended'' outcomes, and whether the program goals are appropriate and useful. Evaluators help to answer these questions, but the best way to answer the questions is for the evaluation to be a joint project between evaluators and stakeholders. The process of evaluation is considered to be a relatively recent pheno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Program (management)
Program management, is the process of managing several related projects, often with the intention of improving an Organizational performance, organization's performance. It is distinct from Program management#Comparison with project management, ''project'' management. In practice and in its aims, program management is often closely related to systems engineering, industrial engineering, change management, and business transformation. In the defense sector, it is the dominant approach to managing large projects. Because major defense programs entail working with contractors, it is also called acquisition management, indicating that the government buyer ''acquires'' goods and services by means of contractors. The program manager has oversight of the purpose and status of the projects in a program and can use this oversight to support project-level activity to ensure the program goals are met by providing a decision-making capacity that cannot be achieved at project level or by pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Self-selection Bias
In statistics, self-selection bias arises in any situation in which individuals select themselves into a group, causing a biased sample with nonprobability sampling. It is commonly used to describe situations where the characteristics of the people which cause them to select themselves in the group create abnormal or undesirable conditions in the group. It is closely related to the non-response bias, describing when the group of people responding has different responses than the group of people not responding. Self-selection bias is a major problem in research in sociology, psychology, economics and many other social sciences. In such fields, a poll suffering from such bias is termed a self-selected listener opinion poll or "SLOP". The term is also used in criminology to describe the process by which specific predispositions may lead an offender to choose a criminal career and lifestyle. While the effects of self-selection bias are closely related to those of selection bias, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Feminist Theories
Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, fictional, or philosophical discourse. It aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. It examines women's and men's social roles, experiences, interests, chores, and feminist politics in a variety of fields, such as anthropology and sociology, communication, media studies, psychoanalysis,Chodorow, Nancy J., Feminism and Psychoanalytic Theory' (Yale University Press: 1989, 1991) political theory, home economics, literature, education, and philosophy. Feminist theory often focuses on analyzing gender inequality. Themes often explored in feminist theory include discrimination, objectification (especially sexual objectification), oppression, patriarchy,Gilligan, Carol, 'In a Different Voice: Women's Conceptions of Self and Morality' in ''Harvard Educational Review'' (1977)Lerman, Hannah, ''Feminist Ethics in Psychotherapy'' (Springer Publishing Company, 1990) stereotyping, art history and contemporary art, and ae ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Critical Race Theory
Critical race theory (CRT) is a cross-disciplinary examination, by social and civil-rights scholars and activists, of how laws, social and political movements, and media shape, and are shaped by, social conceptions of race and ethnicity. Goals include challenging all mainstream and "alternative" views of racism and racial justice, including conservative, liberal, and progressive. The word ''critical'' in the name is an academic reference to critical thinking, critical theory, and scholarly criticism, rather than criticizing or blaming people. CRT is also used in sociology to explain social, political, and legal structures and power distribution as through a "lens" focusing on the concept of race, and experiences of racism. For example, the CRT conceptual framework examines racial bias in laws and legal institutions, such as highly disparate rates of incarceration among racial groups in the United States. A key CRT concept is intersectionalitythe way in which different ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Methodology
In its most common sense, methodology is the study of research methods. However, the term can also refer to the methods themselves or to the philosophical discussion of associated background assumptions. A method is a structured procedure for bringing about a certain goal. In the context of research, this goal is usually to discover new knowledge or to verify pre-existing knowledge claims. This normally involves various steps, like choosing a sample, collecting data from this sample, and interpreting this data. The study of methods involves a detailed description and analysis of these processes. It includes evaluative aspects by comparing different methods to assess their advantages and disadvantages relative to different research goals and situations. This way, a methodology can help make the research process efficient and reliable by guiding researchers on which method to employ at each step. These descriptions and evaluations of methods often depend on philosophical background ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epistemology
Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Epistemologists study the nature, origin, and scope of knowledge, epistemic justification, the rationality of belief, and various related issues. Debates in epistemology are generally clustered around four core areas: # The philosophical analysis of the nature of knowledge and the conditions required for a belief to constitute knowledge, such as truth and justification # Potential sources of knowledge and justified belief, such as perception, reason, memory, and testimony # The structure of a body of knowledge or justified belief, including whether all justified beliefs must be derived from justified foundational beliefs or whether justification requires only a coherent set of beliefs # Philosophical skepticism, which questions the possibili ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ontology
In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality. Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into categories and which of these entities exist on the most fundamental level. Ontologists often try to determine what the categories or highest kinds are and how they form a system of categories that encompasses classification of all entities. Commonly proposed categories include substances, properties, relations, states of affairs and events. These categories are characterized by fundamental ontological concepts, including particularity and universality, abstractness and concreteness, or possibility and necessity. Of special interest is the concept of ontological dependence, which determines whether the entities of a category exist on the most fundamental level. Disagreements within ontology are often about whether entities belonging to a certain category exist and, if so, how they ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Axiology
Axiology (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ''axia'': "value, worth"; and , ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia'': "study of") is the Philosophy, philosophical study of value (ethics), value. It includes questions about the nature and classification of values and about what kinds of things have value. It is intimately connected with various other philosophical fields that crucially depend on the notion of value, like ethics, aesthetics or philosophy of religion. It is also closely related to value theory and meta-ethics. The term was first used by Paul Lapie, in 1902, and Eduard von Hartmann, in 1908. The distinction between ''intrinsic'' and ''extrinsic'' value is central to axiology. One conceptualization holds that something is ''intrinsically valuable'' if it is ''good in itself'' or ''good for its own sake''. It is usually held that intrinsic value ''depends'' on certain features of the valuable entity. For example, an experience may be said to be intrinsically valuable ''by virtue of'' be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cultural Competence
Cultural competence, also known as intercultural competence, is a range of cognitive, affective, and behavioural skills that lead to effective and appropriate communication with people of other cultures.Deardorff, D. K. (2009). ''The Sage handbook of intercultural competence''. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications.Alizadeh, S., & Chavan, M. (2016). Cultural competence dimensions and outcomes: a systematic review of the literature. ''Health & Social Care In The Community'', ''24''(6), e117-e130. doi:10.1111/hsc.12293 Intercultural or cross-cultural education are terms used for the training to achieve cultural competence. Effective intercultural communication relates to behaviors that culminate with the accomplishment of the desired goals of the interaction and all parties involved in the situation. Appropriate intercultural communication includes behaviors that suit the expectations of a specific culture, the characteristics of the situation, and the level of the relationship bet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Association Of Social Workers
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is a professional organization of social workers in the United States. NASW has about 120,000 members. The NASW provides guidance, research, up to date information, advocacy, and other resources for its members and for social workers in general. Members of the NASW are also able to obtain malpractice insurance, members-only publications, discounts on other products and services, and continuing education. History In 1955, the National Association of Social Workers was established through the consolidation of the following seven organizations: * American Association of Social Workers * American Association of Psychiatric Social Workers * American Association of Group Workers * Association for the Study of Community Organization * American Association of Medical Social Workers * National Association of School Social Workers * Social Work Research Group Chapters NASW has 55 chapters, which serve their members through the creation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Evaluation Association
The American Evaluation Association (AEA) is a professional association for evaluators and those with a professional interest in the field of evaluation, including practitioners, faculty, students, funders, managers, and government decision-makers. , AEA has approximately 7057 members from all 50 US states and over 60 other countries. AEA: About Us http://www.eval.org/aboutus/organization/aboutus.asp . Retrieved on 2009-05-08 Mission The American Evaluation Association's mission is to: * Improve evaluation practices and methods * Increase evaluation use * Promote evaluation as a profession and * Support the contribution of evaluation to the generation of theory and knowledge about effective human action. Guiding Principles for Evaluators AEA Publishes thAEA: Guiding Principles for Evaluators which set expectations for evaluators in the areas of: (a) systematic inquiry, (b) competence, (c) integrity/honesty, (d) respect for people, and (e) responsibilities for general and p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carol Weiss
Carol Hirschon Weiss was an American scholar of education and policy analysis. She was the Beatrice B. Whiting Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She was one of the founders of the scientific study of social programs and policies. Education and positions Weiss was born in New York. She obtained a Bachelor's Degree at Cornell University, followed by an M.A. and a Ph.D. at Columbia University. Weiss graduated from Columbia in 1977, where she worked at the Bureau of Applied Social Research. In 1978 she became a faculty member at the Graduate School of Education at Harvard. She was named the Beatrice B. Whiting Professor of Education there in 1999. Weiss was also a visiting fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, the Brookings Institution, and the United States Department of Education. She also served as President of the Policy Studies Organization. Research Weiss's research focused on policy studies, particularly in educa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
