Somebodys Gotta Say It or RealWorld Evaluation

Somebody's Gotta Say It

Author: Neal Boortz

"I've come to the conclusion that roughly 50 percent of the adults in this country are simply too ignorant and functionally incompetent to be living in a free society. You might think I'm off base, but every day around half the people in this country go out of their way to prove me right."
-from Somebody's Gotta Say It

Think you've got it all figured out? Think again.
Neal Boortz - the Talkmaster, the High Priest of the Church of the Painful Truth - has been edifying, infuriating, and entertaining talk radio audiences for more than three decades with his blend of straight talk and twisted humor. Now, the author of the smash number one bestseller The FairTax Book returns to gore every sacred cow in the pasture, from the subversive agendas behind children's books to the scam artists behind "High Art."

In Somebody's Gotta Say It, Boortz warms up for the coming political season with a preemptive strike in "the War on the Individual": "The Democrats' theme for 2008 will be 'The Common Good.' I can't speak for you, but I am an individual. Government exists to protect my rights, not to order my life. And I damn sure don't exist to serve government." He takes on liberal catchphrases like giving back ("Nobody - especially not the evil, wretched rich - actually earns anything anymore. Why do liberals think this way? Because they find it impossible to acknowledge that people work for money"), our rampant civic idiocy ("We are not a democracy. Never were. Weren't supposed to be. And we shouldn't be"), and Big Brother ("We have smoke-free workplaces. We have drug-free school zones. I say let's start establishing government-free oases, where we can be free to leave our seat belts unbuckled, and peel the labels off anything we choose"). And somehow, along the way, he finds room for pop quizzes, cat-chasing contests, and an answer, once and for all, to the eternal question, "Neal, why don't you run for president?" - in a chapter called "No Way in Hell."

Full of irresistible wisecracks and irrefutable libertarian wisdom, Somebody's Gotta Say It is one man's response to America at a time when the government overreaches, the people underperform - and the truth hurts.

Go to: Memory Fitness or Get Your Body Back

RealWorld Evaluation: Working Under Budget, Time, Data, and Political Constraints

Author: Michael Bamberger

"I was quite impressed with how this book balanced the technical aspects with practical advice for managing budget, time and political constraints. The use of case study examples and checklists/worksheets helped to make the book much more "grounded in practice" compared to other texts. I like to think of myself as an experienced, well-read evaluator, but I must confess that I learned quite a lot from this book!"
--Scott Bayley, Victorian Auditor-General's Office, Australia

"[The authors] have really broken new ground by providing the guidance on how to apply the theory to reality. I plan to recommend this book highly, and [the authors have] have given me some great ideas on how to improve our evaluation capacity building efforts (and that's after reading just a few chapters!). Thanks for developing the RealWorld Evaluation approach to its full potential as a new way of thinking about and practicing evaluation."
--Paula Bilinsky, AED Senior Evaluation Analyst

"The breadth and depth of the authors' experiences in international and national settings is apparent on every page."
--Donna M. Mertens, Gallaudet University
 
"Each page of this book contains nugget after nugget of useful, pragmatic, and practical advice."
 --Kent Glenzer, Director, Impact Measurement and Learning Team, CARE USA

RealWorld Evaluation: Working Under Budget, Time, Data, and Political Constraints is the only textbook that provides specific guidance on how to conduct evaluations when working under resource and/or data constraints. AuthorsMichael Bamberger, Jim Rugh, and Linda Mabry illustrate options for addressing each constraint through practical examples from both developed and developing countries to show how adapting to different types of exigencies can lead to successful evaluations.

Key Features:

• Provides practical guidance: Specific and well documented case studies are provided for addressing budget, time, and data constraints, and for dealing with political pressures. Guidelines are offered for protecting the validity of conclusions when measures must be taken to save costs and time.
• Uses a mixed-methods approach: Adapting a range of methods to real-world situations, this text draws on quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches. Design, methods, cultural sensitivity, validity, credibility, and reporting are among the many topics addressed. In addition, triangulation is encouraged for increasing the validity of findings.
• Incorporates a unique seven-step model: A systematic step-by-step approach that is logical and easy to follow is presented. Frameworks and checklists are provided for assessing the strengths and weaknesses of an evaluation and providing strategies to overcome the weaknesses and improve the design and validity.

Intended Audience:
Perfect supplementary text for any advanced undergraduate or graduate introductory program evaluation course across disciplines including Education, Public Administration, Management, Social Work, Public Health, and Nursing; in addition it will also appeal to researchers in government agencies, NGOs, evaluation consultants, and other evaluation practitioners.

Visit the authors' Web site at realworldevaluation.org/

Table of Contents:

1	RealWorld evaluation and the contexts in which it is used	18
2	First clarify the purpose : scoping the evaluation	36
3	Not enough money : addressing budget constraints	51
4	Not enough time : addressing scheduling and other time constraints	69
5	Critical information is missing or difficult to collect : addressing data constraints	88
6	Reconciling different priorities and perspectives : addressing political influences	113
7	Strengthening the evaluation design and the validity of the conclusions	132
8	Making it useful : helping clients and other stakeholders utilize the evaluation	156
9	Applications of program theory in RealWorld evaluation	170
10	The most widely used RealWorld quantitative evaluation designs	194
11	Quantitative evaluation methods	230
12	Qualitative evaluation methods	266
13	Mixed-method evaluation	303
14	Sampling for RealWorld evaluation	323
15	Learning together : building capacity for RealWorld evaluation	356
16	Bringing it all together : applying RealWorld evaluation approaches to each stage of the evaluation process	373