A Comprehensive Typology for Program Evaluation

Abstract

Chen begins his discussion by challenging the basic formative/ summative dichotomy introduced by Scriven, arguing that it has been confusing. He analyzes Scriven's 1991 paper, "Beyond ..." which, he feels, clarifies some of the prior confusions, but creates others. Based on what he sees as limitations in Scriven's dichotomy, Chen offers his own conceptual framework that he argues allows more complete classification of evaluation types. He proposes a typology formed by crossing two evaluation functions ("improvement" and "assessment") with two program stages ("process" and "outcome"), resulting in four basic types of evaluation that he sees as comprehensive enough to encompass the breadth of evaluations that practitioners encounter, while providing a framework that can accommodate mixed-type evaluations.