DEFINITIONS OF EVALUATION AND OF THE EVALUATOR'S ROLE ARE FOLLOWED BY A STEP-BY-STEP DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM EVALUATION PLANNING: MEETING WITH DECISIONMAKERS; DECIDING ON AN EVALUATION APPROACH (FORMATIVE, SUMMATIVE, ECLECTIC, NEEDS ASSESSMENT); COORDINATING PROGRAM PLANNING AND EVALUATION DESIGN EFFORTS; SELECTING THE TYPE OF EVALUATION (CONTEXT, INPUT, PROCESS, PRODUCT) ON THE BASIS OF DECISIONMAKING INFORMATION NEEDS; IDENTIFYING POSSIBLE CONSTRAINTS; AND SELECTING A SAMPLING TECHNIQUE. SUBSEQUENT CHAPTERS DISCUSS EVALUATION DESIGNS, SELECTING CRITERIA AND PERFORMANCE STANDARDS, DATA COLLECTION METHODS (QUESTIONNAIRES, SURVEYS, RATING SCALES, STANDARDIZED REPORTING FORMS, CASE STUDIES), PREPARING DATA FOR ANALYSIS, ANALYZING EVALUATION DATA (GENERAL STATISTICAL CONSIDERATIONS, DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS, MEASURES OF RELATIONS, INFERENTIAL STATISTICS), COMPUTER UTILIZATION IN PROGRAM EVALUATION (INCLUDING A COMPUTER PROGRAM SUITED FOR SOCIAL SCIENCE MANAGEMENT APPLICATIONS), AND WRITING AND DISSEMINATING THE EVALUATION REPORT. PART II OF THE MANUAL COVERS SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS IN USING EVALUATION DATA IN THE DECISIONMAKING PROCESS, AND APPLICATION OF EVALUATION RESULTS IN POLICYMAKING, MANAGEMENT PLANNING, BUDGETING, IDENTIFYING CONSUMER NEEDS, PLANNING FOR GROWTH, DEVELOPING NEW PROGRAMS, CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS, AND GENERAL PROGRAM MANAGEMENT. A GLOSSARY AND AN INDEX ARE PROVIDED.