| Abstract:
Traditional methodological criteria of quality such as validity, reliability, generalizability, and attribution specificity are often fixed and static. Speed, agility, responsiveness and adaptability can be perceived as threats to rigor when program evaluation is conducted within closed system assumptions, including being able to standardize interventions, predetermine outcome measures, and control uncertainty. Developmental evaluation, in contrast, supports rapid feedback, emergent designs, and adaptability in open and complex adaptive systems characterized by high degrees of uncertainty, nonlinearity, and turbulence. Speed, agility, and adaptability – often considered threats in rigor under traditional evaluation designs – become criteria of quality under conditions of complexity. This session will examine speed and adaptability as alternative criteria of quality. The session is based on the presenter’s new book entitled “Developmental Evaluation: Applying Complexity Concepts to Enhance Innovation and Use.”
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