Organization Development Commons^™

Evaluating Between The Lines: Problematizing Voice, Power, And Politics In Goal Based And Goal Free Evaluation Methods, Buba Dicko

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

Voice, power, organizational politics, and evaluators’ worldview are in constant flux in social program evaluation. Every social program rolls out based on assumptions on a theory of change (TOC) while every evaluation is also guided by request for evaluation proposal (RFP) operationalized through an evaluation scope of work (SOW). The TOC and evaluation RFPs are likely to carry strong undercurrents of power and politics likely to limit the choice of evaluation methods, tools, and processes due to the prescriptive and compliance-inducing tone. Social program evaluator is in constant dilemma of negotiating rigor amidst pressure of compliance and evaluator subjective worldviews. …