Evaluation and Action in the Social Environment provides a description of a framework for doing evaluation and action research in social settings. This book presents the strategies for analysis and intervention in community, health, and human service settings. Organized into 10 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the impact of social settings on individual behavior. This text then examines the family, community groups, and personal social networks. Other chapters consider the assessment and change in behavioral and physical environments. This book discusses as well the family as an interpersonal system, with emphasis on interactive sequences to show how symptomatic behavior has its own logic in the family context. The final chapter deals with larger and more complex settings and contexts, including schools, medical hospitals, and settings in the legal system. This book is a valuable resource for sociologists, anthropologists, social scientists, clinical therapists, program evaluators, and social policymakers.

Social Work Research and Evaluation applies systematically developed research knowledge to social work practice and emphasizes the “doing” of social work as a reciprocal avenue for generating research evidence and social work knowledge. Using the Examined Practice Model, authors Elizabeth G. DePoy and Stephen F. Gilson present research as the identification of a problem and then proceed to evaluate the efficacy of social work practice in its resolution. Diverse theories, actions, and sets of evidence from a range of professional and disciplinary perspectives are included to underscore the importance of integrating evaluation and practice in research.

Person-Environment Practice addresses a core but long- neglected dimension in social work and human services practice; accurate environmental assessment and strategic environmental intervention. Despite the centrality of "person-environment" as a key construct in direct practice, the domain of environmental assessment/intervention has received relatively little systematic attention in the practice literature. For a variety of reasons, the core focus of direct practice assessment and change strategies has centered more on "person" than "environment." This book seeks to redress that imbalance. Ironically, the relative lack of attention to environmentally oriented practice persists even as current demands of practice fall increasingly under the rubric of what we here call "environmental intervention," defined as both action in the environment and the process of transforming individual and collective perspectives through critical analysis of the impact of environmental conditions. The authors argue that the ability to understand "environment" from the client's perspective and to function effectively in the environmental domain is central to many emergent areas of practice such as practice with extended families and personal networks, practice from a "strengths" perspective, and culturally competent practice. In Person-Environment Practice, the authors offer a coherent critique and overview of environmental assessment and intervention congruent with the demands of both newly emerging and established interpersonal helping approaches within social work's domain. Robert Halpern of the Erikson Institute for Advanced Studies in Child Development described the book as "as clear, thoughtful and subtle a discussion of how to consider the environment in interpersonal helping as I have seen in the literature" and Anthony Maluccio of Boston College called the book "a timely and exciting contribution, with appreciation and respect for social work practices and qualities of inspiration as well as intellectual stimulation" Susan P. Kemp is assistant professor, School of Social Work, The University of Washington, Seattle. James K. Whittaker is professor, School of Social Work, The University of Washington, Seattle. Elizabeth M. Tracy is associate professor, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.

Evaluation is increasingly important for finding sustainable solutions for the people and the planet, based on a systematic analysis of what works, for whom, and under what circumstances, and to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, as they pertain to the environment. This book explores why the Global Environment Facility (GEF) invests in evaluation for accountability and learning to inform its decision-making on programming priorities, and how this leads to wiser funding decisions and better program performance on the ground. The book is based on real-life experiences of how to make evaluation count for international environmental action. Drawing upon comprehensive evaluations of the GEF, it provides unique insights from authors responsible for designing, implementing, and disseminating the findings of the evaluations. No other multilateral development or environment agency places evaluation fully at the center of their decision-making. The book outlines the trends in the global environment and the changing landscape of international environmental finance. It defines the role of the GEF and explains its institutional framework and the unique partnership that involves donor and recipient countries, multilateral development banks, UN agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and national agencies in the developing countries. Further, it provides useful pointers to other organizations wishing to enhance evidence-based decision-making for improving their relevance, performance, and impact. The book will be most suitable for graduate-level, specialized study in a variety of disciplines such as environmental and development economics, political science, international relations, geography, sociology, and social anthropology. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Available again from the MIT Press.

Designed to provide clear and detailed assistance in the complex process of assessing social change, this book emphasizes the development of an analytic approach and a theoretical framework that can be applied to the assessment of very diverse events--changes in the natural environment, the local economy, or the dominant technology. The guide, based on a sociological perspective that highlights the importance of community social organization in analyzing social change, focuses on the development of user skills in assessment design, research, analysis, and presentation. The guide's theoretical basis and emphasis on the interrelationships that create social change make it valuable to those studying social change in general, as well as to those responsible for conducting or utilizing social impact assessments. Detailed "how to" information, clear writing, and careful design impart the skills necessary to identify and analyze the factors and processes leading to social change and to interpret and present research findings in an effective manner.

Reporting on recent developments in the field of impact assessment, this volume critically analyzes such key areas of assessment as technology, demography, economy, risk, ecology, health, development and climate. Each area is related back to impact assessment as an overall process.

This text presents both the quantitative and qualitative methods and focuses on teaching students how to skillfully apply the full range of research designs, methods and strategies to evaluation of social work in all domains of social work practice. The book provides a framework for the integration of systematic inquiry with practice that can be used by all social workers. The authors have created a model called, "evaluation practice" that provides the evidence-based structure within which diverse social work theories and skills can be organized, examined and verified.

Social marketing takes key marketing principles and applies them to campaigns and efforts to influence social action. In Social Marketing to Protect the Environment, the focus turns to the environment, and how social marketing can be successful to change environmental behaviour. The text begins with a definition of the Social Marketing Model and includes a discussion of various tools that can be used to develop social marketing strategies. It then moves into sections on Residential-Related Behaviours and Commercial-Related Behaviours. These sections follow a consistent format and: - Describe a variety of environmental issues - Give examples of the numerous changes in behaviours and/or practices that would contribute to reducing the problem - Provide mini-cases that illustrate the successful use of social marketing principles along with tools to influence this behaviour in similar situations - Review what worked and what could have been improved. A final section provides future directions and recommendations.