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Evaluation Foundations Revisited: Cultivating a Life of the Mind for Practice de Thomas Schwandt

Evaluation Foundations Revisited: Cultivating a Life of the Mind for Practice

Autor Thomas Schwandt
en Limba Engleză Paperback – 16 iun 2015
Evaluation examines policies and programs across every arena of human endeavor, from efforts to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS to programs that drive national science policy. Relying on a vast array of methods, from qualitative interviewing to econometrics, it is a "transdiscipline," as opposed to a formal area of academic study. Accounting for these challenges, Evaluation Foundations Revisited offers an introduction for those seeking to better understand evaluation as a professional field. While the acquisition of methods and methodologies to meet the needs of certain projects is important, the foundation of evaluative practice rests on understanding complex issues to balance. Evaluation Foundations Revisited is an invitation to examine the intellectual, practical, and philosophical nexus that lies at the heart of evaluation.

Thomas A. Schwandt shows how to critically engage with the assumptions that underlie how evaluators define and position their work, as well as how they argue for the usefulness of evaluation in society. He looks at issues such as the role of theory, how notions of value and valuing are understood, how evidence is used, how evaluation is related to politics, and what comprises scientific integrity. By coming to better understand the foundations of evaluation, readers will develop what Schwandt terms "a life of the mind of practice," which enables evaluators to draw on a more holistic view to develop reasoned arguments and well fitted techniques.
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Specificații

ISBN-13: 9780804786553
ISBN-10: 0804786550
Pagini: 216
Dimensiuni: 152 x 229 x 20 mm
Greutate: 0.34 kg
Editura: Stanford University Press
Colecția Stanford Business Books

Recenzii

"An in-depth overview of the evaluation profession, framed around its central concepts, values, and issues, and rendered in beautifully clear prose. Schwandt's impassioned argument is that evaluation should move beyond technical competence towards professional, ethical, and moral commitment. This book is an excellent guide to understanding the field and the direction it should take."—Ernest R. House, University of Colorado, Boulder

"Thomas Schwandt's new book is important and timely. Driven by widely-shared concerns that ongoing technical trends could result in an increasingly arid, tool-obsessed evaluative enterprise, the book presents (1) an eloquent, beautifully researched framework for cementing the fundamental relationship between theory and practice, and (2) a reminder of the central role that evaluation—so conceived and so integrated—plays in the progress of a democratic society."—Eleanor Chelimsky, U.S. Assistant Comptroller General for Evaluation and Methodology (Ret.)

"Evaluation Foundations Revisited exemplifies and instructs. This exceptional book puts into practice the critical and analytic skills essential for evaluators in every paragraph. Schwandt presents the complex often subtle reasoning involved in evaluation's notable variability with great understanding. His thinking is never simplistic, and he explores the most complex ideas in elegant writing of the highest order. This book is a must-read for everyone who want to see how the best evaluative thinking works in practice."—Lois-ellin Datta, President, Datta Analysis

"This wonderful book elegantly demonstrates the centrality of judgment and argumentation which is fundamental to all aspects of evaluation. Schwandt summarizes what we know, and then adds his original explanation of why there is and should be pluralism in evaluation. Both accessible and profound, this book is highly recommended for both students of evaluation and experienced practitioners."—Peter Dahler-Larsen, University of Copenhagen

Notă biografică

Thomas A. Schwandt is Professor of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A Fellow of the American Educational Research Association, in 2002, he received the Paul F. Lazarsfeld Award from the American Evaluation Association for his contributions to evaluation theory. He is the author of Evaluation Practice Reconsidered and the Dictionary of Qualitative Inquiry. Schwandt is Editor Emeritus of the American Journal of Evaluation.

Cuprins

Contents and Abstracts
1Variability in Evaluation Practice
chapter abstract

This chapter introduces the idea of variability in professional evaluation practice. It provides an overview of four primary sources of variation: how evaluation is defined, what methods an evaluator ought to employ, how the professional evaluator relates to and interacts with parties to an evaluation, and how the purpose of the practice is understood. It concludes by suggesting that methodological and theoretical pluralism in evaluation requires more careful investigation.

2Evaluation Theory and Practice
chapter abstract

This chapter argues that notions of "applying" theory to practice are mistaken and explains how theoretical knowledge (as a body of knowledge composed of concepts, principles, insights, etc.) serves as resource for practical decision making. It discusses several bodies of knowledge and their relevance for evaluation practice including evaluation theory, program theory, theory of use, causal theory, political theory, and theory of change.

3Values and Valuing
chapter abstract

This chapter begins with a short introduction to the difference between objectivist and subjectivist approaches to valuing. That is followed by a discussion of several issues involved in viewing evaluation as a judgment-oriented practice, grasping the relationship between values and criteria, using criteria as the basis for evaluative judgment, judging value when using multiple criteria, and determining the evaluator's role in making judgments.

4Reasoning, Evidence, and Argument
chapter abstract

The chapter first discusses judgment making in evaluation as a process of critical thinking that is guided by principles of scientific reasoning, method and evidence as well as ethical principles. It then turns to a discussion of evidence¿its definition, sources, and properties¿which forms the basis of judgments of value. That is followed by an examination of three salient issues surrounding the use of evidence in evaluation: (1) the controversy surrounding evidence-based policy and practice, (2) debates about establishing evidence of the causal effect of programs and policies, and (3) ensuring the use of adequate measures (i.e., sources of evidence) for determining program processes and outcomes. The chapter concludes with a discussion of key considerations involved in making evaluative arguments.

5Politics and Policymaking
chapter abstract

This chapter examines several distinct, but interrelated, ways of understanding the political character of evaluation. The discussion is organized from micro to macro-level considerations beginning with an "interior" look at politics in the conduct of evaluation planning and execution, then to assumptions evaluators hold about the politics of policymaking or the "politics of interaction," from there to considering evaluation as a means of governance, and finally to exploring the political point of view of evaluation itself.

6Use
chapter abstract

This chapter draws on the considerable literature in both knowledge utilization and use of evaluation to identify prominent issues surrounding how use might be defined, the factors and circumstances that affect use, and the way in which different evaluation approaches position the idea of use in practice. The chapter concludes by arguing that the explanatory value of much the literature on use is meager although we can make several empirical generalizations about the phenomenon of knowledge use.

7Professionalism and Professionalization
chapter abstract

Evaluation practitioners face two important, interrelated issues. The first is what the trend toward professionalization of evaluation means for the practice in a global or international perspective. The second is what characterizes professionalism or professional conduct in evaluation. This chapter engages these two issues by first examining efforts aimed at developing competencies for what comprises a "good evaluator" and what might be involved in providing evidence that one who self identifies as an evaluator possesses them. It then examines criteria for determining what counts as a "good evaluation" and what it might mean for evaluation as a profession to offer some assurance that it engages in processes for quality assurance. The chapter ends with a discussion of the ethics of professional conduct.

Descriere

Evaluators often focus on how best to deploy methods and methodologies to address project-specific evaluation questions. However, the foundation of effective evaluation practice rests on understanding a complex set of issues to balance, rather than which tools to choose. Evaluation Foundations Revisited is an invitation to examine the intellectual, practical, and philosophical issues that lie at the heart of professional practice.