Evaluation Services

We specialize in evaluating intervention programs that address contemporary social problems, using expertise built on our experience identifying, archiving and disseminating the best social intervention programs, datasets, and data collection instruments.

OUR EVALUATION APPROACH
Our evaluation approach embodies the following tenets:

Empowerment. We provide the tools, resources, and expertise to empower practitioners to conduct and report high quality evaluations of their social intervention programs. At the same time, technical assistance is an integral part of all our products; we provide as much assistance as needed to enable a high quality evaluation.

Working within Resources. We recognize that programs have limited resources for evaluation budgets, time, and staff expertise. We believe it is better to do a small evaluation well than a large one poorly. Therefore, we encourage programs to take careful stock of their resources before embarking on an evaluation, and to tailor their evaluation effort to their resources.

Stages. We follow a ten-stage framework for program assessment and evaluation spanning program planning and model building, program monitoring and data collection, and comparison against a performance standard. The tools and assistance we provide are designed to boost programs' capacities to move up a stage or two without straining their resources. Although we stress training and empowerment for programs that want to learn how to evaluate their own efforts, we are also able to take on any or all of the steps of a total program evaluation.

CONTRACTS & COSTS
Evaluation Contracts
Evaluation contracts are set up as either cost-plus-fixed-fee or fixed price contracts. Free estimates are given prior to setting up these contracts. Because we typically take responsibility for all aspects of the evaluation except for data collection (which is done by the customer with guidance from us), the minimum Evaluation Contract is generally $5,000 per year.

Technical Assistance Contracts
If you have a smaller project (under $5,000) you might consider a technical assistance contract. Our hourly rate ranges from $140-$147. Billing is done monthly based on actual hours provided. All evaluation services are included, for example: telephone or e-mail assistance, document review, site visits, conducting of evaluation workshops.

CONTACTING US
If you have any questions about our evaluation services or would like to discuss your project please contact Dr. JJ Card, President, by phone at 650-383-6278 or by email at jjcard@socio.com.