Marvin C. Alkin (born 1934) is Professor Emeritus of Education at the University of California, Los Angeles. Alkin joined the UCLA faculty in 1964 after receiving his doctorate from the Stanford University Graduate School of Education. He has, at various times, served as Chair of the Education Department and Associate Dean of the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. He was founder and former Director of the UCLA Center for the Study of Evaluation.
Alkin has received multiple awards from the American Educational Research Association (AERA) for outstanding evaluation reports and policy studies. In addition, he is one of only four people to receive both of the major scholarly awards of the American Evaluation Association (AEA). In 1996, he was the winner of the Paul F. Lazarsfeld Award for Lifelong Contributions to Evaluation Theory from AEA. In 2016, he received the Association’s Research on Evaluation Award for significant contributions to the study of evaluation.
Alkin has been editor or associate editor of eight academic journals, including the Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis Journal, Evaluation Review, and Studies in Educational Evaluation. He also was executive editor of the Encyclopedia of Educational Research (6th Edition). He is currently co-editor of SAGE Publication’s Evaluation in Practice Series.
Alkin has been a consultant to numerous national governments and has directed program evaluations in 18 different countries. He is especially noted for his extensive research on evaluation utilization and comparative evaluation theory. His resume includes well over 150 published books, articles and chapters.
Alkin is noted for his work on Context Sensitive Evaluation, an approach derived from an understanding of factors found in the research literature that are associated with high levels of evaluation use.
Alkin, M. C. & Patton, M. Q. (2020). The birth and adaptation of evaluation theories. Journal of Multidisciplinary Evaluation, 16(35), 1-13.
Alkin, M. C. & Vo, A.T. (2017). Evaluation essentials: From A to Z. (2nd ed.). New York, New York: Guilford Press.
Alkin, M. & King, J. (2017). Definitions of evaluation use and misuse, evaluation influence, and factors affecting use. American Journal of Evaluation.
Alkin, M. & King, J. (2016). The historical development of evaluation use. American Journal of Evaluation, 37(4).
Alkin, M. (Editor). (2013) Evaluation roots: A wider perspective of theorists’ views and influences (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
Alkin, M. (2013). Context Sensitive Evaluation. In M. Alkin, Editor. Evaluation Roots: A Wider Perspective of Theorists’ Views and Influences. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
Alkin, M, Vo, A., & Christie, C. (2012). The evaluator’s role in valuing: Who and with whom. In G. Julnes (Ed.), Promoting valuation in the public interest: Informing policies for judging value in evaluation. New Directions for Evaluation, 133, 29-41.
Alkin, Marvin C., Christie, Christina A., & Rose, Mike. (2006). In I. Shaw, J. Greene, and M. Mark, Eds. Communicating Evaluation in The Sage Handbook of Evaluation. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
Alkin, M. & Taut, S. (2003) Unbundling evaluation use. Studies in Educational Evaluation. 29, 1-12.
Alkin, M. (Editor in Chief) (1992). Encyclopedia of educational research, sixth edition. New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Alkin, M. (1990). Debates on evaluation. Newbury Park, California: Sage Publications.
Alkin, M., & Coyle, K. (1988). Thoughts on evaluation utilization, misutilization, and non-utilization. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 14, 331-340.
Alkin, M. (1985). A guide for evaluation decision-makers. Beverly Hills, California: Sage Publications.
Alkin, M., & Solmon, L. (Editors) (1983). The costs of evaluation. Beverly Hills, California: Sage Publications.
Alkin, M., Daillak, R., & White, P. (1979). Using evaluations: Does evaluation make a difference? (Volume 76). Sage Library of Social Research. Beverly Hills, California: Sage Publications.
Alkin, M. (1973). Theoretical framework for the analysis of curriculum and instructional reform. International Review of Education (UNESCO), 19(2), 195-207.
Alkin, M. (1972). Evaluating the cost-effectiveness of instructional programs. In. C. Wulf (Ed.), Beshreibung und bewertung von unterricht, curricula und schulversuchen. Munchen, Germany: Piper. (in German)
King, J., Shanker, V., Miller, R., Mark, M. (2010). The oral history of evaluation: The professional development of Marvin C. Alkin. American Journal of Evaluation, 31(2), 266-277. (DOI: 10.1177/1098214010363320)
Action research is a philosophy and methodology of research generally applied in the social sciences. It seeks transformative change through the simultaneous process of taking action and doing research, which are linked together by critical reflection. Kurt Lewin, then a professor at MIT, first coined the term "action research" in 1944. In his 1946 paper "Action Research and Minority Problems" he described action research as "a comparative research on the conditions and effects of various forms of social action and research leading to social action" that uses "a spiral of steps, each of which is composed of a circle of planning, action and fact-finding about the result of the action".
Participant observation is one type of data collection method by practitioner-scholars typically used in qualitative research and ethnography. This type of methodology is employed in many disciplines, particularly anthropology, sociology, communication studies, human geography, and social psychology. Its aim is to gain a close and intimate familiarity with a given group of individuals and their practices through an intensive involvement with people in their cultural environment, usually over an extended period of time.
Qualitative research is a type of research that aims to gather and analyse non-numerical (descriptive) data in order to gain an understanding of individuals' social reality, including understanding their attitudes, beliefs, and motivation. This type of research typically involves in-depth interviews, focus groups, or observations in order to collect data that is rich in detail and context. Qualitative research is often used to explore complex phenomena or to gain insight into people's experiences and perspectives on a particular topic. It is particularly useful when researchers want to understand the meaning that people attach to their experiences or when they want to uncover the underlying reasons for people's behavior. Qualitative methods include ethnography, grounded theory, discourse analysis, and interpretative phenomenological analysis. Qualitative research methods have been used in sociology, anthropology, political science, psychology, communication studies, social work, folklore, educational research, information science and software engineering research.
Educational research refers to the systematic collection and analysis of evidence and data related to the field of education. Research may involve a variety of methods and various aspects of education including student learning, interaction, teaching methods, teacher training, and classroom dynamics.
Everett M. "Ev" Rogers was an American communication theorist and sociologist, who originated the diffusion of innovations theory and introduced the term early adopter. He was distinguished professor emeritus in the department of communication and journalism at the University of New Mexico.
Gene V Glass is an American statistician and researcher working in educational psychology and the social sciences. According to the science writer Morton Hunt, he coined the term "meta-analysis" and illustrated its first use in his presidential address to the American Educational Research Association in San Francisco in April, 1976. The most extensive illustration of the technique was to the literature on psychotherapy outcome studies, published in 1980 by Johns Hopkins University Press under the title Benefits of Psychotherapy by Mary Lee Smith, Gene V Glass, and Thomas I. Miller. Gene V Glass is a Regents' Professor Emeritus at Arizona State University in both the educational leadership and policy studies and psychology in education divisions, having retired in 2010 from the Mary Lou Fulton Institute and Graduate School of Education. From 2011 to 2020, he was a senior researcher at the National Education Policy Center, a Research Professor in the School of Education at the University of Colorado Boulder, and a Lecturer in the Connie L. Lurie College of Education at San Jose State University. In 2003, he was elected to membership in the National Academy of Education.
Grounded theory is a systematic methodology that has been largely applied to qualitative research conducted by social scientists. The methodology involves the construction of hypotheses and theories through the collecting and analysis of data. Grounded theory involves the application of inductive reasoning. The methodology contrasts with the hypothetico-deductive model used in traditional scientific research.
Narrative inquiry or narrative analysis emerged as a discipline from within the broader field of qualitative research in the early 20th century, as evidence exists that this method was used in psychology and sociology. Narrative inquiry uses field texts, such as stories, autobiography, journals, field notes, letters, conversations, interviews, family stories, photos, and life experience, as the units of analysis to research and understand the way people create meaning in their lives as narratives.
Urban studies or pre-urban planning education is based on the study of the urban development of cities and regions—it makes up the theory portion of the field of urban planning. This includes studying the history of city development from an architectural point of view, to the impact of urban design on community development efforts. Urban studies is a major field of study used by paraprofessional practitioners of urban planning, it helps with the understanding of human values, development, and the interactions they have with their physical environment.
Michael John Scriven was a British-born Australian polymath and academic philosopher, best known for his contributions to the theory and practice of evaluation.
M. Elizabeth Graue is Sorenson professor of Curriculum and Instruction, in the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She is the former Associate Director for Faculty, Staff, and Student Development at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research. Graue's areas of interest include school readiness, class size reduction, preK policy, preparing teachers for inclusive home-school relations, and qualitative research methods.
The National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) is a research partnership consisting of UCLA, the University of Colorado, Stanford University, RAND, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Southern California, Educational Testing Service, and the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Stewart I. Donaldson is a British-born American positive psychologist specializing in health, well-being, and evaluation science. He is a distinguished university professor at Claremont Graduate University and is the director of the Claremont Evaluation Center and The Evaluators' Institute. He also served as dean at Claremont for 16 years (2001-2017) and as president of the American Evaluation Association in 2015.
Nereu Florencio "Ned" Kock is a Brazilian-American philosopher. He is a Texas A&M Regents Professor of Information Systems at Texas A&M International University.
The American Evaluation Association (AEA) is a professional association for evaluators and those with a professional interest in the field of evaluation, including practitioners, faculty, students, funders, managers, and government decision-makers. As of 2014, AEA has approximately 7057 members from all 50 US states and over 60 other countries.
Empowerment evaluation (EE) is an evaluation approach designed to help communities monitor and evaluate their own performance. It is used in comprehensive community initiatives as well as small-scale settings and is designed to help groups accomplish their goals. According to David Fetterman, "Empowerment evaluation is the use of evaluation concepts, techniques, and findings to foster improvement and self-determination". An expanded definition is: "Empowerment evaluation is an evaluation approach that aims to increase the likelihood that programs will achieve results by increasing the capacity of program stakeholders to plan, implement, and evaluate their own programs."
Jean J. Schensul is a medical anthropologist and senior scientist at The Institute for Community Research, in Hartford, Connecticut. Dr. Schensul is most notable for her research on HIV/AIDS prevention and other health-related research in the United States, as well as her extensive writing on ethnographic research methods. She has made notable contributions to the field of applied anthropology, with her work on structural interventions to health disparities leading to the development of new organizations, community research partnerships, and community/university associations. Schensul’s work has been dedicated to community-based research on topics such as senior health, education, and substance abuse, among others.
Christian van Nieuwerburgh (1971) is a British-based executive coach, academic, consultant and author. He is a Professor of Coaching and Positive Psychology at the University of East London (UEL) and Executive Director of Growth Coaching International, a Sydney-based global coach training provider for the education sector.
Marcia Guttentag was clinical social psychologist whose work focused on psychological issues related to children, poverty, women's rights, and mental health. As one of the founders of the Evaluation Research Society, Guttentag is known for being a pioneer in promoting evaluation research as a distinct field of social science. She was an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Huey-tsyh Chen is a Taiwanese American sociologist and scholar of program evaluation. He is Professor in the Department of Public Health and Director of the Center for Evaluation and Applied Research at Mercer University.
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