What Counts as Credible Evidence in Applied Research and Evaluation thoroughly covers one of the most fundamental issues facing applied research and evaluation practice today – what counts as sound evidence for decision making? An internationally renowned line up of authors explore a wide range of issues that address the fundamental challenges of designing and executing high quality applied research and evaluation studies. Readers will come away from this volume with a new and clear understanding of the philosophical, theoretical, methodological, political, and ethical dimensions of gathering credible evidence to answer fundamental research and evaluation questions across diverse disciplinary boundaries and "real world" contexts.