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Session Title: What is or Should be the Value-added of an Evaluator?

Panel Session 775 to be held in Liberty Ballroom Section B on Saturday, November 10, 12:10 PM to 1:40 PM

Sponsored by the Theories of Evaluation TIG

Chair(s):

Melvin payday loan  Mark payday loan ,  Pennsylvania State University,  m5m@psu.edu

Abstract: This session addresses the question, "What is -- or should be -- the value-added of an evaluator?" The session takes as a given that there are many other specialists who will do the same kinds of work as do evaluators -- or at least what we might think of as AEA style evaluators. Alternatively stated, there are professionals available to do what we would call evaluation, but who have little if any familiarity with the theory, practices and professional standards specific to evaluation. For example, economists and strong methodologists are available to do large-scale outcome studies; organizational development specialists will perform work similar to that of many capacity building evaluators; etc. In light of this state of affairs, the session will address the question: What if anything is the value added when evaluative work is done by someone steeped in the evaluation literature, relative to some other kind of specialist?

Evaluators: Value-added, Value-subtracted Lois-ellin payday loan  Datta payday loan ,  Datta Analysis,  datta@ilhawaii.net What is the value-added of evaluators, compared to members other fields, when assessing merit, worth, and value? Evaluators bring at least five potentially beneficial qualities. They more likely (1) begin immediately in helping clarify values, purposes, and questions, (2) are passionate about utilization, engaging stakeholders more, (3) attend to context and, in a systems sense, consider interconnections among the evaluand and the world, (4) expect the unexpected, being systematically concerned with the unpredicted and the emergent, and (5) work with what is, rather than what is predicted, in assessing attribution, contributions, causes. The evaluator further adds value by humility and appreciation, and thus can add to the team the method skills needed. This implies an evaluator trained well enough in allied disciplines to think critically about them, and also multi-lingual in evaluation theory and practice. Lacking these skills or the interpersonal skills of cross-discipline communication, the evaluator may be value-subtracted.

Working with Close Relatives George payday loan  Grob payday loan ,  Center for Public Program Evaluation,  georgeandsuegrob@cs.com Several other professional groups carry out functions that are similar to some of those carried out by evaluators. This includes auditors, investigators, policy analysts, management analysts, lawyers, investigative reports, social scientists, program specialists in fields like education, health, and social services, and even lobbyists. This paper will briefly discuss: the nature of the overlap with these close relatives of ours; professional sensitivities; what can be done to minimize professional tensions; and, even more important, how to effectively join forces with them to solve problems and improve social well being. It will also look at the flip side of the equation - what does it take to persuade members of the allied professions who may be trained in methods that are similar to those of evaluators, but who may see things differently because of their professional upbringing.

Value-added (or Subtracted) by an Evaluator William payday loan  Shadish payday loan ,  University of California, Merced,  wshadish@ucmerced.edu The idea that training in evaluation can add value to evaluation is premised on the assumption that we can define training in evaluation in a way that would be deemed reasonable by the community of colleagues who do evaluations. This premise is questionable because the community of colleagues who do evaluations is multidisciplinary (e.g., economists, psychologists, sociologists). For example, an economist who does evaluation may believe that traditional training in economics is, in fact, training in evaluation, and further training is neither needed or desirable. However, a rephrased version of this question asks whether evaluators who are steeped in the literature common to the American Evaluation Association can add value to evaluation as a result. I will discuss this question in more detail in my talk, commenting on both the value added and subtracted from evaluations that are conducted by AEA evaluators.

Value-Added by an Evaluator: What should it be? And so what? Melvin payday loan  Mark payday loan ,  Pennsylvania State University,  m5m@psu.edu This paper first puts the question, 'What is - or should be - the value-added of an evaluator', in context. Related but distinct questions have been addressed, such as what are the competencies that evaluators should have. The value-added question includes a comparison standard (evaluative work by those in related fields), and thus will have a more limited answer. But the answer is critical, for our own self-assessment, for training, for communicating with funders, and for understanding the lessons learned about evaluation theory and practice. The paper also sketches a tentative answer to the value-added question. It rests largely on evaluation theory, on the good evaluator's ability to think contingently about evaluation purposes and methods, and on thinking about evaluation in a broader context. This paper also briefly addresses how to proceed in dealing with the value-added question, in light of the varied positions provided in this session.