Evaluation Approaches - Summary of Approaches - Table 2

Table 2

Summary of approaches for conducting evaluations
Approach Attribute
Organizer Purpose Key strengths Key weaknesses
Politically controlled Threats Get, keep or increase influence, power or money. Secure evidence advantageous to the client in a conflict. Violates the principle of full & frank disclosure.
Public relations Propaganda needs Create positive public image. Secure evidence most likely to bolster public support. Violates the principles of balanced reporting, justified conclusions, & objectivity.
Experimental research Causal relationships Determine causal relationships between variables. Strongest paradigm for determining causal relationships. Requires controlled setting, limits range of evidence, focuses primarily on results.
Management information systems Scientific efficiency Continuously supply evidence needed to fund, direct, & control programs. Gives managers detailed evidence about complex programs. Human service variables are rarely amenable to the narrow, quantitative definitions needed.
Testing programs Individual differences Compare test scores of individuals & groups to selected norms. Produces valid & reliable evidence in many performance areas. Very familiar to public. Data usually only on testee performance, overemphasizes test-taking skills, can be poor sample of what is taught or expected.
Objectives-based Objectives Relates outcomes to objectives. Common sense appeal, widely used, uses behavioral objectives & testing technologies. Leads to terminal evidence often too narrow to provide basis for judging to value of a program.
Content analysis Content of a communication Describe & draw conclusion about a communication. Allows for unobtrusive analysis of large volumes of unstructured, symbolic materials. Sample may be unrepresentative yet overwhelming in volume. Analysis design often overly simplistic for question.
Accountability Performance expectations Provide constituents with an accurate accounting of results. Popular with constituents. Aimed at improving quality of products and services. Creates unrest between practitioners & consumers. Politics often forces premature studies.
Decision-oriented Decisions Provide a knowledge & value base for making & defending decisions. Encourages use of evaluation to plan & implement needed programs. Helps justify decisions about plans & actions. Necessary collaboration between evaluator & decision-maker provides opportunity to bias results.
Policy studies Broad issues Identify and assess potential costs & benefits of competing policies. Provide general direction for broadly focused actions. Often corrupted or subverted by politically motivated actions of participants.
Consumer-oriented Generalized needs & values, effects Judge the relative merits of alternative goods & services. Independent appraisal to protect practitioners & consumers from shoddy products & services. High public credibility. Might not help practitioners do a better job. Requires credible & competent evaluators.
Accreditation / certification Standards & guidelines Determine if institutions, programs, & personnel should be approved to perform specified functions. Helps public make informed decisions about quality of organizations & qualifications of personnel. Standards & guidelines typically emphasize intrinsic criteria to the exclusion of outcome measures.
Connoisseur Critical guideposts Critically describe, appraise, & illuminate an object. Exploits highly developed expertise on subject of interest. Can inspire others to more insightful efforts. Dependent on small number of experts, making evaluation susceptible to subjectivity, bias, and corruption.
Adversary “Hot” issues Present the pro & cons of an issue. Ensures balances presentations of represented perspectives. Can discourage cooperation, heighten animosities.
Client-centered Specific concerns & issues Foster understanding of activities & how they are valued in a given setting & from a variety of perspectives. Practitioners are helped to conduct their own evaluation. Low external credibility, susceptible to bias in favor of participants.
Note. Adapted and condensed primarily from House (1978) and Stufflebeam & Webster (1980).

Read more about this topic:  Evaluation Approaches, Summary of Approaches

Famous quotes containing the word table:

    “For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.”
    —Bible: New Testament, Luke 22:27.