Michael Quinn Patton

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Michael Quinn Patton is an independent organizational development consultant and has written five major books on the art and science of program evaluation, including the influential "Utilization-Focused Evaluation," first published in 1978, in which he emphasized the importance of designing evaluations to insure their usefulness, rather than simply creating long reports that may never get read or never result in any practical changes. Through his writing about evaluation, and his lifetime of work in the field, starting in the 1970s when evaluation in the non-profit sector was a relatively new development, he has made a significant contribution to the ever-developing methodology of evaluation, facilitating clarity about interventions and their potential impact using logic modeling, systems thinking, complexity theory, and concept mapping.

His most recent book, "Getting to Maybe: How the World is Changed," a collaboration with Frances Westley and Brenda Zimmerman, was published in 2006.

1 Biography
2 Books
3 Awards
4 External Links

[edit] Biography

After receiving his doctorate in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin, he spent 18 years on the faculty of the University of Minnesota (1973-1991), including five years as Director of the Minnesota Center for Social Research and ten years with the Minnesota Extenstion Service. He is currently on the graduate faculty of The_Union_Institute.

[edit] Books

"Getting to Maybe: How the World is Changed" (2006, Random House Canada)
"Teaching Evaluation Using the Case Method: New Directions for Evaluation" by Michael Quinn Patton and Patricia Patrizi (Paperback - April 4, 2005)
"Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods" (2001, 3rd edition, Sage Publications)
"Grand Canyon Celebration: A Father-Son Journey of Discovery" (1999 Prometheus Books)
Utilization-Focused Evaluation: The New Century Text, 3rd ed (1997 Sage Publications)
"Family Sexual Abuse: Frontline Research and Evaluation" by Michael Quinn Patton (Hardcover - Feb 26, 1991 Sage Publications)
"How to Use Qualitative Methods in Evaluation" (CSE Program Evaluation Kit) (Paperback - Dec 1, 1987 Sage Publications)

"Creative Evaluation" (1987)
"Culture and Evaluation" (1985).

"Practical Evaluation" (1982 Sage Publications)

[edit] Awards

Patton is the only recipient of both the Alva and Gunner Myrdal Award from the Evaluation Research Society for "outstanding contributions to evaluation use and practice" and the Paul F. Lazarsfeld Award for lifetime contributions to evaluation theory from the American Evaluation Association. The Society for Applied Sociology honored him with the 2001 Lester F. Ward Award for Outstanding Contributions to Applied Sociology.