Affiliation:
1. Evaluation Center, Western Michigan University.
Abstract
How does support differ from reporting and dissemination? How, and to what extent do existing evaluation theories attend to support? How, and for what purposes should support be provided? Does support infer that evaluators have ethical, moral, professional, contractual or other obligations to provide support? Is support an evaluation service, or should it be considered an evaluator competency or skill? Or, as with the traditional research paradigm, should evaluators merely let their reports speak for them? While the Key Evaluation Checklist (KEC) and other evaluation theories and approaches have provided a conceptual basis for evaluation support, further clarification is necessary in order to make support an integral part of evaluation practice. The evaluation support construct as posited here necessitates means that are direct and indirect, technical and general, and includes alternative scenarios for the purposes of advocating for, assisting and helping evaluands, clients, stakeholders, and audiences and users of evaluation.
Subject
Sociology and Political Science,Development
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