This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (4) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Segerholm, C. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Researching Evaluation in National (State) Politics and Administration: A Critical Approach

Department of Education, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden, christina.segerholm{at}pedag.umu.se

Evaluation is increasingly taken as a public good, as an activity aimed at development and betterment. At the same time, evaluation is increasingly integrated in accountability movements and in institutionalized systems for governance. It is also embedded in a consumer-oriented New Public Management ideology. Against this background, it is high time to start critically examining evaluation itself as a phenomenon and practice. A conceptual framework for carrying out critical studies of evaluations in national (or state) settings is provided, and examples from previous such studies are given to illustrate possible findings. The framework is meant to capture forces that shape an evaluation process and the knowledge claims that result. These forces can restrict evaluation or enable it to provide a critical examination meant to be part of a public debate. By scrutinizing the premises for, the implementation of, and the impact of public-sector evaluations from a critical perspective, evaluators should gain a more thorough understanding of the various power plays of which evaluation is a part. Further discussions of and additional research on public-sector evaluation, to increase our knowledge and understanding of evaluation as a practice, are encouraged.

American Journal of Evaluation, Vol. 24, No. 3, 353-372 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/109821400302400305


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. T. Jaeger User-Centered Policy Evaluations of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act: Evaluating E-Government Web Sites for Accessibility for Persons With Disabilities Journal of Disability Policy Studies, June 1, 2008; 19(1): 24 - 33. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. Lehtonen Deliberative Democracy, Participation, and OECD Peer Reviews of Environmental Policies American Journal of Evaluation, June 1, 2006; 27(2): 185 - 200. [Abstract] [PDF]

				K. E. Newcomer How Might We Strengthen Evaluation Capacity to Manage Evaluation Contracts? American Journal of Evaluation, June 1, 2004; 25(2): 209 - 218. [Abstract] [PDF]