CONTENTS

Table of Contents
Introduction

1. Descriptive Statistics in Evaluation
2. Subgroup Analysis
3. Variable - Are They Related?
4. Correlation
5. The t-Test of Difference Between Means

Supplements
Resources
Glossary

Wading Through the Data Swamp:
Program Evaluation 201

Evaluator's Preliminary Report

When Jack received his evaluator's preliminary report, he was shocked. It started out o.k., with some descriptive information. Age, sex, ethnic group, nothing surprising. But then came the findings.

Jack was confused by the data, but then he saw the bottom line: "Based on these preliminary findings, we can conclude that the program has little evidence of effectiveness and participation appears to have made little difference in the lives of the children."

WHAT???? The report was confusing enough without that bad news. Jack didn't understand how the evaluator could say that his program was not effective. But we will get to the bottom of this. Just keep reading, and things will become clearer. I PROMISE!