Social psychology and evaluation

This compelling work brings together leading social psychologists and evaluators to explore the intersection of these two fields and how their theory, practices, and research findings can enhance each other. An ideal professional reference or student text, the book examines how social psychological knowledge can serve as the basis for theory-driven evaluation; facilitate more effective partnerships with stakeholders and policymakers; and help evaluators ask more effective questions about behavior. Also identified are ways in which real-world evaluation findings can identify gaps in social psychological theory and test and improve the validity of social psychological findings--for example, in the areas of cooperation, competition, and intergroup relations. The volume includes a useful glossary of both fields' terms and offers practical suggestions for fostering cross-fertilization in research, graduate training, and employment opportunities. Each chapter features introductory and concluding comments from the editors.

Author Notes

Melvin M. Mark, PhD, is Professor and Head of Psychology at The Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania. He has served as President of the American Evaluation Association and as Editor of the American Journal of Evaluation (for which he is now Editor Emeritus). Dr. Mark's interests include the theory, methodology, and practice of program and policy evaluation, as well as the application of social psychology.

Stewart I. Donaldson, PhD, is Professor and Chair of Psychology, Director of the Institute of Organizational and Program Evaluation Research, and Dean of the School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California. He currently serves on the board of the American Evaluation Association. Dr. Donaldson has been honored with Early Career Achievement Awards from the Western Psychological Association and the American Evaluation Association.

Bernadette Campbell, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Her research applies social psychological theories of negotiation, persuasion, and attitude change to achieve a better practical and theoretical understanding of evaluation activities and concepts such as stakeholder dialogue and evaluation influence.

Melvin M. Mark and Stewart I. Donaldson and Bernadette CampbellIcek AjzenManuel Riemer and Leonard BickmanStewart I. Donaldson and William D. CranoLawrence J. Sanna and A. T. Panter and Taya R. Cohen and Lindsay A. KennedyR. Scott Tindale and Emil J. PosavacMonique A. FlemingNorbert Schwarz and Daphna OysermanRobert B. Cialdini and Noah J. Goldstein and Vladas GriskeviciusDavid W. Johnson and Roger T. Johnson and Laurie StevahnBlair T. Johnson and Natalie L. Dove and Marcella H. BoyntonBernadette Campbell and April L. McGrathMelvin M. Mark and Stewart I. Donaldson and Bernadette Campbell

I Background, History, and Overview
Editors' Introductory Comments to Chapter 1	p. 3
1 The Past, the Present, and Possible Futures of Social Psychology and Evaluation	p. 4
Social Psychology, and Evaluation, Defined	p. 6
A Brief and Selective History	p. 8
The Present	p. 13
Alternative Futures for the Social Psychology-Evaluation Intersection	p. 17
Appendix 1.1. Overview of Selected Methods and Concepts	p. 20
Notes	p. 24
References	p. 25
Editors' Concluding Comments to Chapter 1	p. 28
II Social Psychological Theories as Global Guides to Program Design and Program Evaluation
Editors' Introductory Comments to Chapter 2	p. 31
2 The Social and Policy Impact of Social Cognitive TheoryAlbert Bandura
Health Promotion Systems Founded on Self-Regulation Principles	p. 37
Macrosocial Applications Addressing Urgent Global Problems	p. 49
Sociocognitive Model for Effecting Societywide Changes	p. 51
Elements of Enabling Serials	p. 53
Global Applications	p. 55
Concluding Remarks	p. 65
Acknowledgments	p. 66
References	p. 66
Editors' Concluding Comments to Chapter 2	p. 71
Editors' Introductory Comments to Chapter 3	p. 72
3 Behavioral Interventions: Design and Evaluation Guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior	p. 74
The Theory of Planned Behavior	p. 75
The Cognitive Foundation of Behavior	p. 76
Constructing a Standard TPB Questionnaire	p. 78
Understanding Prevailing Behavior Patterns	p. 81
Background Factors	p. 83
Behavioral Interventions	p. 85
Targeting an Intervention	p. 85
Deliberation versus Implementation	p. 89
Intervention Strategies	p. 90
Evaluating Effectiveness of Behavioral Interventions	p. 94
Summary and Conclusions	p. 96
Notes	p. 96
Recommended Readings	p. 97
References	p. 97
Editors' Concluding Comments to Chapter 3	p. 101
Editors' Introductory Comments to Chapter 4	p. 102
4 Using Program Theory to Link Social Psychology and Program Evaluation	p. 104
A Personal Voyage from Social Psychology, to Evaluation, and Back to Social Psychological Theory	p. 105
Basic Psychological Research and the Real World	p. 107
The Change Model	p. 108
The Action Model	p. 123
The Evaluation	p. 130
Summary	p. 131
Acknowledgment	p. 131
Recommended Readings	p. 132
References	p. 133
Editors' Concluding Comments to Chapter 4	p. 139
Editors' Introductory Comments to Chapter 5	p. 140
5 Theory-Driven Evaluation Science and Applied Social Psychology: Exploring the Intersection	p. 141
Contemporary Evaluation Practice	p. 142
Evaluation Theory	p. 143
Theory-Driven Evaluation Science	p. 145
Applied Social Psychology	p. 147
A Sobering Example: D.A.R.E., an Idea That Deserved to Be Right but Wasn't	p. 149
Using Program Theory-Driven Evaluation Science to Advance Social Psychology	p. 151
Using Methods of Social Psychology to Improve Theory-Drive Evaluation Science	p. 154
Concluding Comment	p. 157
References	p. 157
Editors' Concluding Comments to Chapter 5	p. 161
III Implications of Social Psychological Theory and Research for Meeting the Challenges of Evaluation Practice
Editors' Introductory Comments to Chapter 6	p. 165
6 Planning the Future and Assessing the Past: Temporal Biases and Debiasing in Program Evaluation	p. 166
Temporal Biases and Program Evaluation	p. 167
Summary	p. 179
Acknowledgments	p. 183
Recommended Readings	p. 183
References	p. 183
Editors' Concluding Comments to Chapter 6	p. 187
Editors' Introductory Comments to Chapter 7	p. 188
7 The Social Psychology of Stakeholder Processes Group Processes and Interpersonal Relations	p. 189
Group Polarization	p. 191
Shared Information and Cognitions	p. 193
Motivation and Trust in Groups	p. 197
Concluding Remarks	p. 201
Acknowledgment	p. 202
References	p. 202
Editors' Concluding Comments to Chapter 7	p. 208
Editors' Introductory Comments to Chapter 8	p. 210
8 Attitudes, Persuasion, and Social Influence: Applying Social Psychology to Increase Evaluation Use	p. 212
Attitudes, Persuasion, and Social Influence	p. 214
Thoughtful and Nonthoughtful Attitude Change Processes	p. 215
Use of Argument Quality and Thought Listings in Uncovering Attitude Change Processes	p. 223
Objective versus Biased Thinking	p. 227
Remaining Questions and Methods for Future Research	p. 230
Summary	p. 232
Notes	p. 234
Recommended Readings	p. 235
References	p. 236
Editors' Concluding Comments to Chapter 8	p. 242
Editors' Introductory Comments to Chapter 9	p. 243
9 Asking Questions about Behavior: Self-Reports in Evaluation Research	p. 244
Understanding the Question	p. 245
Recalling Relevant Information	p. 249
Inference and Estimation	p. 252
Reporting the Answer: Confidentiality and Self-Presentation	p. 258
What to Do?	p. 259
Acknowledgment	p. 260
References	p. 261
Editors' Concluding Comments to Chapter 9	p. 264
IV Evaluation-Social Psychology Links in Important Areas of Practice: The Present and Promise of Evaluation Contributing to Social Psychology
Editors' Introductory Comments to Chapter 10	p. 267
10 What Social Psychologists Can Learn from Evaluations of Environmental Interventions	p. 269
Lesson 1 People Underestimate the Power of Fundamental Social Influence	p. 270
Lesson 2 Having Research Accepted by an Organization Often Requires That the Researchers First Be Accepted by the Organization	p. 278
Notes	p. 282
References	p. 282
Editors' Concluding Comments to Chapter 10	p. 284
Editors' Introductory Comments to Chapter 11	p. 286
11 Social Interdependence and Program Evaluation	p. 288
Theory, Research, Practice	p. 289
Social Interdependence Theory	p. 290
Nature of Cooperative Learning	p. 296
Amount and Characteristics of Research on Social Interdependence	p. 298
Contributions of Evaluation Studies to Social Interdependence Theroy	p. 301
Integrative Negotiations and Peer Mediation	p. 307
Meta-Analysis for Program and Policy Evaluations	p. 310
Social Interdependence Theory and Program/Policy Evaluation	p. 311
References	p. 314
Editors' Concluding Comments to Chapter 11	p. 318
Editors' Introductory Comments to Chapter 12	p. 320
12 On Being Basic and Applied at the Same Time: Intersections between Social and Health Psychology	p. 321
A Bit of Social Psychological History	p. 322
Behavior as Crucial to Health	p. 323
Why Knowledge Flows Slowly from Health Research to Social Psychology	p. 328
What Should Social Psychology Learn from Health Behavior Change Research?	p. 329
Are Basic and Applied Goals at Odds?	p. 333
Conclusion	p. 336
Acknowledgments	p. 336
References	p. 336
Editors' Concluding Comments to Chapter 12	p. 342
V Expanding the Intersection between Social Psychology and Evaluation
Editors' Introductory Comments to Chapter 13	p. 345
13 Where the Rubber Hits the Road: The Development of Usable Middle-Range Evaluation Theory	p. 346
What Is Middle-Range Theory?	p. 348
Contemporary Evaluation Theory: Some Context	p. 349
Social Psychology and Evaluation: Natural Partners	p. 350
Keeping the ôEvaluationö in Middle-Range Evaluation Theory	p. 351
Middle-Range Evaluation Theory: Sketching Out Theoretical Subassemblies	p. 352
Adopting a Middle-Range Frame of Mind: Benefits and Challenges	p. 361
Summary	p. 365
References	p. 366
Editors' Concluding Comments to Chapter 13	p. 372
14 Building a Better Future	p. 373
A Completely Unique Relationship? No.	p. 374
Plan for the Chapter	p. 375
Program Theory from Social Psychology: New Directions	p. 375
Social Psychology and the Practice Challenges of Evaluation	p. 381
Professional Matters	p. 383
Conclusion	p. 385
References	p. 385
Author Index	p. 389
Subject Index	p. 401
About the Editors	p. 417
Contributors	p. 419

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