Evaluation Roots: Tracing Theorists' Views and Influences

Aufsatzsammlung zu den Entstehungshintergründen und Entwicklungsgeschichten der wichtigsten Evaluationsansätze und Evaluationskoryphäen. Auch wenn der vom Herausgeber Marvin C. Alkin entwickelte "evaluation tree" in seiner eindimensionalen Perspektive nicht überzeugen kann, so sind doch die Einzelbeiträge ein wertvoller Schatz für alle, die an der theoretischen und auch praktischen Entwicklung des Felds interessiert sind. In wenigen anderen Büchern findet man so viele hochkarätige Evaluationskoryphäen versammelt.

Evaluation Roots

Tracing Theorists' Views and Influences

Authored by: Marvin C. Alkin, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, UCLA

"Marvin Alkin has assembled one of the most important collections of essays to date about the history of the booming discipline and profession of evaluation. This volume ushers the reader down memory lane to profound and semi-profound insights, invaluable lessons learned, and spectacular reflections from original pioneers and their former students about how to, and how not to, practice evaluation. Evaluation Roots provides one of the most coherent frameworks available—The Evaluation Theory Tree—for understanding differences and similarities between many of the modern day theories of evaluation practice. It is a must read for evaluation scholars, practitioners, and especially the next generation of evaluators. It will certainly be required reading for evaluation students attending Claremont Graduate University." —Dr. Stewart I. Donaldson, Dean of the School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences, Chair & Professor of Psychology, Claremont Graduate University

Concern for evaluation theoretical prescriptions emerged about 40 years ago, giving it a history that is both recent enough to be part of the living experience of many of today's theorists and old enough to afford an opportunity for an analysis of how the field has evolved over time.

Evaluation Roots: Tracing Theorists’ Views and Influences examines current evaluation theories and traces their evolution within the framework of theories building upon theories and how evaluation theories are related to each other. Initially, all evaluation was derived from social science research methodology and accountability concerns. The way in which these evaluation "roots" grew to form a tree helps to provide a better understanding of evaluation theory. Thus, the book uses an evaluation theory tree as its central metaphor. Author Marvin Alkin posits that evaluation theories can be classified by the extent to which they focus on methods, uses, or valuing; these three approaches form the major limbs of the tree.

In addition to an overview, which analyzes the evaluation theory tree and connections among theories, the book contains essays by twenty-two leading evaluation theorists. In these pieces, the evaluators comment on their own development and provide their own views of their placement upon the tree.

This book is intended for graduate students in departments of education, psychology, sociology, management, public policy, public health, and any department with a course in evaluation theory. It will also prove invaluable to professional evaluators and applied researchers who are seeking clarification on the differences between theoretical approaches to evaluation and how they developed.

Contributors: Robert Boruch, Huey Chen, Christina Christie, Thomas Cook, J. Bradley Cousins, Elliot Eisner, David Fetterman, Jennifer Greene, Egon Guba, Ernest House, Jean King, Yvonna Lincoln, Jason K. Luellen, George Madaus, John Owen, Michael Quinn Patton, Hallie Preskill, Peter Rossi, Michael Scriven, William R. Shadish, Robert Stake, Daniel L. Stufflebeam, Carol Weiss, Joseph Wholey