Assessing Decision-Making Risk and Information Needs in Evaluation

Abstract

The Conflict Model of Decisionmaking (Janis and Mann, 1977) served as the theoretical framework for the development of scales and inventories to assess the decision-making risk, decision context, and information needs for different program dimensions being evaluated. The decision-making risk scale was internally consistent and the comparisons of results on the two program dimensions and correlations with decision context perceptions and with information needs were congruent with the conflict model of decision making. Awareness of the amount of risk and other characteristics of the evaluation decision context can be useful to evaluators seeking to provide useful information for decision making.