One must stand in awe of a text appearing in its sixth edition, twenty years on, with its basic structure changed hardly at all. I reviewed the 6th edition of J. P. Guilford's Fundamental Statistics in Psychology and Education , another classic that preserved its structure in a rapidly changing field. Owen and Rogers have a different structure, and a very good one in my opinion, but before turning to their new book, let us honour their ancestors. In case there are readers not intimately familiar with the five previous editions, let us review.
Empowerment evaluation is given a nod but is quickly integrated.
There is no requirement to arrive at a judgement of the value or worth of the program. Every effort must be made to produce results that will be used, but the crucial decisions about evaluation design are shaped by the qualities of good research. Needs assessment gets its own chapter in the 6th, but Program Monitoring has always been there. This expanded and updated chapter exemplifies the book's objective, to provide an introduction to the range of resea rch activities used in appraising the design, implementation, and utility of social programs. Rossi et al. perceive the social context differently from Fetterman, Kemmis or Stake, not so much in the purpose as in the criteria of quality.