Abstract
For those of us who are evaluators, the question of how beneficial evaluations are, is one we seldom need to ask. Apart from the direct benefit to us (interesting work that pays reasonably well), we intuitively know that evaluations play a vital role in several ways. They can support policy development and implementation, inform organisational strategic directions, improve professional practice, and they can result in better outcomes for program participants, and improve accountability. And yet, too often we encounter resistance to evaluation, as Rogers and Gullickson (2023) note in the non-profit sector: ‘In the non-profit sector, the barriers to evaluation include minimal desire for change, reluctance to question assumptions, past negative experiences, difficult terminology, and a focus on individualism that supports the individual above organisational goals’ (p. 178). That resistance can be caused by political priorities and vested interests who would prefer that their programs or policies not be scrutinised (Datta, 2011) and at times those vested interests want evaluation evidence to be used as a ‘mechanism to legitimate government decision making’ (Mason, 2022, p. 27). In some cases, resistance results from fear of judgement and concerns about negative findings. Maloney (2017) describes politics as a ‘potential ‘brick wall’ to the use of evaluation findings’ (p. 35). All this said, an evaluator who can demonstrate the value or benefit of their evaluation process is likely to be able to work constructively with a program manager or commissioner.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 83-86 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Evaluation Journal of Australasia |
Volume | 24 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jun 2024 |
Keywords
- Evaluation
- Methodology
- Outcomes