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Evaluators' Decision Making

The Relationship Between Theory, Practice, and Experience

National Institute of Higher Education in Agronomy, Dijon, France, claire.tourmen{at}educagri.fr

How do evaluation practitioners make choices when they evaluate a program? What function do evaluation theories play in practice? In this article, I report on an exploratory study that examined evaluation practices in France. The research began with observations of practitioners' activities, with a particular focus on the phases of evaluation design. The purpose of the study was to examine the logic underlying their choices and the role that evaluation theory played in those choices. In this study, I used activity theory and ergonomics methods. I highlight various ways in which working evaluators make evaluation choices in real situations, explained by different sets of conceptual resources they hold related to their level of experience. Finally, I show how this research contributes toward clarifying the role of theories in practice and enriching an evaluation theory

Key Words: evaluation theory • evaluation practice • situated decision making • skills • training

American Journal of Evaluation, Vol. 30, No. 1, 7-30 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1098214008327602


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