Dr. Telly Kamelia 
If you only need the buying answer
The honest answer is that the current listing for Program Evaluation: Alternative Approaches and Practical Guidelines is not the strongest value route in the sampled market. Pearson’s print price is lower, and the sampled lifetime eText is also lower. So if your goal is simple cost efficiency, the current listing is not where I would start.
| Format | Source | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current listing | Merybook | $124.98 | Check price |
| Pearson | $84.99 | Check price | |
| eText (lifetime) | VitalSource | $89.99 | Check price |
That does not make the book unimportant. It just means the better answer is to tell readers plainly that cheaper print and digital paths already exist. In a site like this, that kind of honesty is part of the value.
What this book actually teaches
A program-evaluation text matters because it trains students and practitioners to judge whether interventions, services, and organizations are actually doing what they claim to do. A good book in this area teaches evaluation design, stakeholders, data use, competing approaches, practical constraints, and the difficult balance between rigor and real-world usefulness.
That can absolutely make the book worth owning for the right reader. Evaluation frameworks often return in nonprofit management, education, public administration, health systems, and applied research. But the value of the content is not a reason to pretend that one specific listing is the best market route when it is not.
What I would do instead
If you want a physical copy, the lower Pearson print price is the better move. If you prefer digital and want a kept reference without a large price jump, the sampled lifetime eText is also better than the current listing. I would only revisit the current listing if the cheaper options disappear.
