Purposeful Program Theory

Between good intentions and great results lies a programtheory--not just a list of tasks but a vision of what needs tohappen, and how. Now widely used in government and not-for-profitorganizations, program theory provides a coherent picture of howchange occurs and how to improve performance. Purposeful ProgramTheory shows how to develop, represent, and use program theorythoughtfully and strategically to suit your particular situation,drawing on the fifty-year history of program theory and theauthors' experiences over more than twenty-five years. "From needs assessment to intervention design, fromimplementation to outcomes evaluation, from policy formulation topolicy execution and evaluation, program theory is paramount. Butuntil now no book has examined these multiple uses of programtheory in a comprehensive, understandable, and integrated way. Thispromises to be a breakthrough book, valuable to practitioners,program designers, evaluators, policy analysts, funders, andscholars who care about understanding why an intervention works ordoesn't work." --Michael Quinn Patton, author,Utilization-Focused Evaluation "Finally, the definitive guide to evaluation using programtheory! Far from the narrow 'one true way' approaches to programtheory, this book provides numerous practical options for applyingprogram theory to fulfill different purposes and constraints, andguides the reader through the sound critical thinking required toselect from among the options. The tour de force of the history anduse of program theory is a truly global view, with examples fromaround the world and across the full range of content domains. Amust-have for any serious evaluator." --E. Jane Davidson, PhD,Real Evaluation Ltd. Companion Web site: josseybass.com/go/funnellrogers