Shadish, William R.

(b. 1949, Brooklyn, New York). Ph.D., M.S. Clinical Psychology, Purdue University; B.A. Sociology, Santa Clara University.

Shadish is Professor and a Founding Faculty Member at the University of California, Merced. He was Dunavant University Professor of Psychology at the University of Memphis, where he became part of the faculty in 1981. He was also Director of the Research Design and Statistics Program in the Department of Psychology and Director, Center for Applied Psychological Research, from 1990 to 1997.

He is known for his work on program evaluation theory, especially in Foundations of Program Evaluation (coauthored with Tom Cook and Laura Leviton), as well as other works. Foundations was the first comprehensive effort at articulating a theory of program evaluation theory. In it, the authors suggest that evaluation practice is driven by four key theoretical issues: how knowledge is constructed, the role that values play in evaluation, how evaluation knowledge is used, and how social programs function and change. Shadish's contributions to methodology and design in evaluation are demonstrated in the updated Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Generalized Causal Inference (with Tom Cook and the late Donald Campbell). This volume might be considered the third in a generation of some of the most influential texts in social science research and evaluation, each updating and expanding on its predecessors.

[Page 389]This latest volume introduces a theory of causal generalizations that responds to criticisms of the Campbell tradition's failure to deal adequately with external validity.

Shadish was a postdoctoral Fellow in Methodology and Evaluation Research in Northwestern University's Department of Psychology from 1978 to 1981. His connection with Northwestern and Tom Cook, as well as with the work of Don Campbell, are strong influences on his work in methodology and program evaluation. Larry Hedges' meta-analysis work has also been influential for him.

Shadish has made substantial contributions to the professions of evaluation and psychology. He has been President of the American Evaluation Association (1997), Editor of New Directions for Program Evaluation (1992–1995), and Chair of the American Evaluation Association Task Force on the Development of Guiding Principles for Evaluators (1992–1994). In this position, he helped to develop AEA's ethical code for evaluators.

His scholarship and service to the profession and community have been repeatedly recognized. He has received the Outstanding Research Publication Award, American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (1994); Paul F. Lazarsfeld Award for Evaluation Theory, American Evaluation Association (1994); Outstanding Research Publication Award, American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (1996); James McKeen Cattell Fund Sabbatical Award (1996–1997); Robert Ingle Service Award, American Evaluation Association (2000); Catherine Rivers Johnson Award (in recognition of service helping children), Memphis Beat the Odds Foundation (2000); and the Donald T. Campbell Award for Innovations in Methodology, Policy Studies Organization (2002). Shadish is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Society.