A Brief Definition of Evaluation and Other Key Terms
In the previous section, the perceptive reader will have noticed that the term “evaluation” has been used rather broadly without definition beyond what was implicit in context. But the rest of this chapter could be rather confusing if we did not stop briefly to define the term more precisely. Intuitively, it may not seem dif- ficult to define evaluation. For example, one typical dictionary definition of eval- uation is “to determine or fix the value of: to examine and judge.” Seems quite straightforward, doesn’t it? Yet among professional evaluators, there is no uni- formly agreed-upon definition of precisely what the term “evaluation” means. In fact, in considering the role of language in evaluation, Michael Scriven, one of the founders of evaluation, for an essay on the use of language in evaluation recently noted there are nearly 60 different terms for evaluation that apply to one context or another. These include adjudge, appraise, analyze, assess, critique, examine, grade, inspect, judge, rate, rank, review, score, study, test, and so on (cited in Patton, 2000, p. 7). While all these terms may appear confusing, Scriven notes that the variety of uses of the term evaluation “reflects not only the immense im- portance of the process of evaluation in practical life, but the explosion of a new area of study” (cited in Patton, 2000, p. 7). This chapter will introduce the reader
Chapter 1 • Evaluation’s Basic Purpose, Uses, and Conceptual Distinctions 7
to the array of variations in application, but, at this point, we will focus on one definition that encompasses many others.
Early in the development of the field, Scriven (1967) defined evaluation as judging the worth or merit of something. Many recent definitions encompass this original definition of the term (Mark, Henry, & Julnes, 2000; Schwandt, 2008; Scriven, 1991a; Stake, 2000a; Stufflebeam, 2001b). We concur that evaluation is de- termining the worth or merit of an evaluation object (whatever is evaluated). More broadly, we define evaluation as the identification, clarification, and application of defensible criteria to determine an evaluation object’s value (worth or merit) in rela- tion to those criteria. Note that this definition requires identifying and clarifying de- fensible criteria. Often, in practice, our judgments of evaluation objects differ because we have failed to identify and clarify the means that we, as individuals, use to judge an object. One educator may value a reading curriculum because of the love it instills for reading; another may disparage the program because it does not move the child along as rapidly as other curricula in helping the student to recognize and interpret letters, words, or meaning. These educators differ in the value they assign to the cur- ricula because their criteria differ. One important role of an evaluator is to help stake- holders articulate their criteria and to stimulate dialogue about them. Our definition, then, emphasizes using those criteria to judge the merit or worth of the product.
Evaluation uses inquiry and judgment methods, including: (1) determining the criteria and standards for judging quality and deciding whether those stan- dards should be relative or absolute, (2) collecting relevant information, and (3) applying the standards to determine value, quality, utility, effectiveness, or sig- nificance. It leads to recommendations intended to optimize the evaluation object in relation to its intended purpose(s) or to help stakeholders determine whether the evaluation object is worthy of adoption, continuation, or expansion.