Product Description: The research reported in this volume was designed to provide estimates of the extent of damages and injuries from certain natu­ ral hazards inflicted on households in the United States. In addi­ tion, it reports on sources of aid proffered to households and the extent to which there are differences among households in the receipt of help...read more

The book that has been a benchmark in evaluation has been further improved and updated. Relied on by over 90,000 readers as the text on how to design, implement and appraise the utility of social programmes, the Sixth Edition of Evaluation has been completely revised to include the latest techniques and approaches, as well as guidelines for how evaluations should be tailored to fit programmes and social contexts. (view table of contents)

Product Description: Through the use of specific examples to illustrate evaluation research goals and methods, Thinking About Program Evaluation provides readers with an overview of the science and politics of evaluation research. New to this edition is coverage of meta-analysis, selection models, and instrumental variables...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: In the midst of the welfare reform revolution, Peter H. Rossi examines five major food assistance programs, whose combined annual budgets approach $40 billion. His comprehensive assessment of the research concerning the impact of these programs describes their historical origins, goals, and operations and then uses the best available research to assess their impact and effectiveness...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: The sentencing guidelines written by the U.S. Sentencing Commission for the federal crime courts were designed to lead to uniform the just punishments for convicted criminals. How well did the Commission’s judgments about what were just punishments compare to the view of the American public? Using data from a 1994 national household survey, the authors compare the punishments described by the Commission to those desired by the public...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: This updated volume from Professors Wright and Rossi is part of a larger, continuing research program, focused on the acquisition, carrying, and use of guns and other weapons in the commission of criminal acts. For this expanded edition, Dr...read more

Product Description: The latest edition of the Workbook is published to tie in with the Fifth Edition of Evaluation: A Systematic Approach. Presenting a wide range of practical exercises that will challenge both beginners and advanced readers, the book also includes chapter outlines and reviews of key topics such as local evaluations...read more

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Analyzes the causes and extent of homelessness in the U.S., and suggests short- and long-term solutions

Book by Rossi, Peter H.

In 1978, the Social and Demographic Research Institute of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, received a grant from the National Institute of Justice to undertake a comprehensive review of the literature on weapons, crime, and violence in the United States. The purpose of the project is best described as a "sifting and winnowing" of the claims and counterclaims from both sides of the Great American Gun War—the perennial struggle in Ameri­can political life over what to do, if anything, about guns, about violence, and about crime. The review and analysis of the available studies consumed the better part of three years; the results of this work are contained in this volume. The intention of any review is to take stock of the available fund of knowledge in some topical area. Under the Gun is no different: our goal has been to glean from the volumes of previous studies those facts that, in our view, seem firmly and certainly established; those hypotheses that seem adequately supported by, or at least approximately consistent with, the best available research evidence; and those areas or topics about which, it seems, we need to know a lot more than we do. One of our major conclusions can be stated in advance: despite the large number of studies that have been done, many critically important questions have not been adequately researched, and some of them have not been examined at all. Much of the available research in the area of weapons and crime has been done by advocates for one or another policy position. As a consequence, the manifest intent of many "studies" is to persuade rather than to inform. We have tried to approach the topic from a purely agnostic point of view, treating as an open question what policies should be enacted with regard to gun, or crime, control. Thus, we have tried to judge each study on its own merits, on the basis of the routine standards normally applied to social-scientific research, and not on the basis of how effectively it argues for a particular policy direction. It would, of course, be presumptuous to claim that we have set aside all our own biases in conducting this study. Whether or not our treatment is fair and objective is clearly something for the reader, and not us, to decide.

Product Description: `Assign this book in a graduate social psychology methods course. It deserves to be read by social psychologists, and the factorial survey technique should be fully integrated into the tool kit of those who go on to practice policy-relevant research...read more

Product Description: This 1981 Abt Books publication is the most comprehensive study to date on social research methods and findings relevant to disaster response. Included are presentations and discussions of two studies undertaken by the Social and Demographic Research Institute between 1976 and 1979, one focused on the long-term effects of natural hazards on American communities and the other examining the state and local politics of natural hazard issues...read more

Product Description: This most succesful textbook achieves its fourth edition substantially reorganized and with examples and references updated. New to this edition are: richer treatment of formative evaluation procedures; deeper examination of cost effectiveness; a more practical approach to costs benefits analysis; full exploration of the issues regarding the utilization of evaluations; updated coverage of qualitative research and examples from the late 80's; a realistic view of practical ethics...read more