Evaluation Ethics for Best Practice

“A thoughtful, thorough approach. The book is well written, covers very important topics in the area of evaluation and assessment, and uses a creative approach to identify salient ethical issues in evaluation. Each chapter can stand alone, and some or all of them would be a wonderful supplement to a text for a course on evaluation.”–John H. Schuh, Distinguished Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Iowa State University

“I really like the author’s approach. Probably the most powerful aspect is the concrete, real-life scenarios that bring the subject matter to life. I can’t say enough about how much is to be gained from this approach. I think the scenario exercises are a real stroke of genius, in that they allow the student to anticipate and to think ahead about what to do.”–Geni Cowan, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, California State University, Sacramento

“This book is a great introduction to ethical dilemmas faced not only by evaluators, but also by their client organizations. The beauty of it is that it provides an opportunity to work out the different facets of how we do our work. Beyond the nuts and bolts of what to do, this book makes us think about how we do it. It encourages us to think it through and make decisions that support the integrity of evaluation.”–Geni Cowan, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, California State University, Sacramento

“This book is a great way for students to learn the complexities of evaluation ethics in real-world settings! Realistic case studies with responses by different evaluators–both academics and practitioners–illustrate ethical dilemmas that can arise at every stage of the evaluation, and show how even experienced evaluators differ in the approaches and actions they take in each case. Other cases, without responses, give students the opportunity to practice their own skills.”–Jody L. Fitzpatrick, coauthor of Program Evaluation: Alternative Approaches and Practical Guidelines; Graduate School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado at Denver

“As evaluation practitioners know all too well, evaluation is a highly political activity. As such, it is fraught with ethical dilemmas. Morris and his colleagues are to be congratulated for providing the field with a comprehensive, thought-provoking, highly practical, and very useable book on the topic of evaluation ethics. The book’s organization takes us through the stages of evaluation practice, providing concise and relevant case scenarios that have few simple answers, yet lend critical insights into what one might do in a given situation. Particularly helpful are the guiding and ‘What If’ questions, which are excellent tools to facilitate conversations with students, colleagues, and evaluation clients. This book should be on every evaluator’s bookshelf.”–Hallie Preskill, School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences, Claremont Graduate University; 2007 President, American Evaluation Association