Citation

Lund DA. Eval. Program Plann. 1978; 1(1): 31-40.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1978, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/0149-7189(78)90005-8

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Seduced by the elegance, sophistication and jargon characteristic of new developments in applied research, practicing evaluators are in danger of becoming distracted from achievement of their evaluative goal: that of providing timely, reliable and useful data to program management to facilitate rational data-based decision-making. To avoid such seduction, the author advocates adaptation of simple, inexpensive and efficient evaluative methods tailored to organizational needs and presentation of findings in language readily understood by constituent groups. Likewise, insistance by evaluators upon maintenance of a strict role boundary -- that is, limiting role functioning exclusively to those tasks considered evaluation -- may be dysfunctional. Rather than detract from accomplishment of his goals, the author maintains that such participation allows development of skills, insights and staff relationships which enhance the evaluator's effective functioning within the organizational context and contribute to organizational acceptance and use of his evaluative results.