Evaluation Approaches - Summary of Approaches

Summary of Approaches

The preceding section was used to distinguish between fifteen evaluation approaches in terms of their epistemology, major perspective, and orientation to values. This section is used to summarize each of the fifteen approaches in enough detail so that those placed in the same cell of Table 1 can be distinguished from each other.

Table 2 is used to summarize each approach in terms of four attributes—organizer, purpose, strengths, and weaknesses. The organizer represents the main considerations or cues practitioners use to organize a study. The purpose represents the desired outcome for a study at a very general level. Strengths and weaknesses represent other attributes that should be considered when deciding whether to use the approach for a particular study. The following narrative highlights differences between approaches grouped into the same cell of Table 1.