Evaluation Use and Misuse – Evaluation Uncertainty

March 30, 2022 jamorell Evaluation Use and Misuse, Use and Uselessnesss of Evaluation

Good Reasons Not to Use Data: The Problem of Tactics Outside of Culture

I’m arguing for a culture of data use that resonates with what we know about information use and decision making.

January 31, 2022February 3, 2022 jamorell Evaluation Use and Misuse, Program Theory and Program Logic

How Much Diverse Intellectual Input Should Be Included When Planning an Evaluation? (Revised)

How Much Diverse Intellectual Input Should Be Included When Planning an Evaluation? I addressed this question some time ago in my book on unintended consequences. It’s time to revisit the question. What is the Optimal Amount of Diverse Opinion? My interest in this question stems from an article I recently read in Foreign Affairs about … Continue reading How Much Diverse Intellectual Input Should Be Included When Planning an Evaluation? (Revised)

December 17, 2021 jamorell Evaluation Use and Misuse

Second Installment: AEA’s Potential to Serve the Public Good

I just read all the candidates’ statements on AEA’s 2022 election ballot. It got me to thinking a bit more about my previous blog post: AEA’s Potential to Serve the Public Good. Five notions ended up mingling: facts, · democracy, · social justice, · stakeholder diversity, and · James Madison’s 1788 opinion about factions. … Continue reading Second Installment: AEA’s Potential to Serve the Public Good

March 3, 2018May 24, 2019 jamorell Evaluation Use and Misuse

A Plan for Making Complexity Useful in Evaluation

Recently a friend of mine asked about my understanding of what role complexity can play in Evaluation, and how I would further that role. Below is an edited version of what I sent her. My goal for the role of complexity in Evaluation Complexity as discussed in evaluation circles contains a great deal of information … Continue reading A Plan for Making Complexity Useful in Evaluation

August 11, 2017May 13, 2019 jamorell Evaluation Use and Misuse

Evaluation use by people opposed to the program

Recently I posted a message to Evaltalk about a story in the NY Times that dealt with the Administration’s plan to cut funding for teenage pregnancy prevention programs: Programs That Fight Teenage Pregnancy Are at Risk of Being Cut. (Evaltalk is an American Evaluation Association’s listserv.) That message led to an interesting back and forth, … Continue reading Evaluation use by people opposed to the program

July 10, 2017May 24, 2019 jamorell Evaluation Use and Misuse

Are Policy Makers, Program Designers and Managers Doing a Good Job if they Rely Too Much on Evaluation?

We like to complain about evaluation use. People in my business (me included) like to lament the lack of attention that people pay to evaluation. If only we did a better job if identifying stakeholders. If only we could do a better job of engaging them. If only we understood their needs better. If only … Continue reading Are Policy Makers, Program Designers and Managers Doing a Good Job if they Rely Too Much on Evaluation?

May 6, 2017May 24, 2019 jamorell Evaluation Use and Misuse

Some Musings on Evaluation Use in the Current Political Context

This blog is my effort to consolidate and organize some back and forth I have been having about evaluation use. It was spurred by a piece on NPR about the Administration’s position on an after school program. (Trump's Budget Proposal Threatens Funding For Major After-School Program.) In large measure the piece dealt with whether the … Continue reading Some Musings on Evaluation Use in the Current Political Context

February 20, 2017May 24, 2019 jamorell Evaluation Use and Misuse

Invitation to a Conversation Between Program Funders and Program Evaluators: Complex Behavior in Program Design and Evaluation

Effective programs and effective evaluations require an appreciation of complex behavior. Evaluators cannot address complexity unless program funders do.