About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

66 Fed. Probation 10 (2002)
Valuing Evaluation

handle is hein.journals/fedpro66 and id is 78 raw text is: 10 FEERALPROBTIONVolume 66~ Number 2 Vaun Evlato Felicia G. Cohn, Ph.D.* Director of Medical Ethics, University of California, Irvine College of Medicine EVALUATION OF a social program is generally undertaken to demonstrate the value of a program. More formally, program evaluation refers to the use of social research procedures to systematically investigate the effectiveness of social intervention programs that is adapted to their political and organi- zational environments and designed to in- form social action in ways that improve social conditions (Rossi, Freeman, Lipsey, 1999: 2). Frequently, much is made of the practical and policy implications of such evaluation results, while less attention is paid to the endeavor itself. Yet, the quest to demonstrate value is in and of itself a matter of value, i.e., some- thing of importance. Evaluation, then, is fundamentally an ethical enterprise: an effort to distinguish right from wrong, good from bad, and de- grees of goodness or badness. Ethics is a dis- cipline fundamentally concerned with questions of should: What should I do? What should be done? Therefore, evalua- tion serves to provide answers to those ques- tions with regard to specific programs. The questions of what to evaluate and even whether to evaluate suggest three levels of ethical inquiry. First, on what values is evalu- ation founded? Second, what values does evaluation reveal? Third, does evaluation fulfill those values? The questions arise most intensely in the context of specific inquiries. For example, in 1998, the U.S. Congress directed the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Acad- emies of Sciences and Engineering to exam- ine the training needs of health professionals to respond to family violence in order to de- velop a social action strategy. Specifically, the charge directed that an interdisciplinary panel of experts assess training needs, existing train- ing programs, and efforts to foster knowledge among health professionals. In essence, policy- makers were requesting an evaluation of the state-of-the-art in order to determine how best to proceed. The request itself and the results of the committee's assessment will be used to depict issues of value in evaluation. The Ethical Foundations of Evaluation Evaluation is not generally conducted for the sake of conducting evaluation. Evaluation is not perceived to have intrinsic value, at least not beyond the academic domain. Nor is it usually undertaken simply for descriptive purposes. Certainly, evaluation describes pro- gram performance, but this description con- tributes to the main goal of evaluation: determining effectiveness or success mea- sured against some set of standards. The very fact that evaluation is purposive indicates that the value of evaluation is largely contingent on derived outcomes. The findings can be used, for example, to determine if a program is worthwhile or ineffective, to quantify how effective a program is, to identify aspects of programs in need of enhancement or change, and/or to describe unexpected outcomes. That the act of evaluating has occurred is probably of little interest without the findings. And even the results may be of little interest without some application, such as develop- ing policy or managing a program in order to inform social action in ways that improve social conditions (Rossi, Freeman, Lipsey, 1999: 2). Thus, evaluation is largely a teleo- logical enterprise, that is, whether it is good is determined by its ends. So, evaluation is good if it is likely to produce good (See e.g., Purtilo, 1993). The telos or end of program evaluation is varied. History demonstrates that human be- ings throughout time have endeavored to de- scribe, understand, change, and improve the conditions of our existence, whether these ac- tivities are called evaluation or not. Further, with efforts to change society has come a desire to determine the impact of these efforts. Programs are usually designed to raise awareness of a so- cial problem, address specific aspects of a social problem, or to resolve a problem. Consequently, program evaluation is used to investigate the effectiveness of a particular program in achiev- ing the goal it was established to achieve. In evaluating, we examine the value of a program, a determination rooted in not just whether a program is implemented as planned, but whether that program works. A determination of whether the program works depends on whether the effects of that pro- gram coincide with other things we believe important, which are described as values. These values may reflect the need for the pro- gram, the program design, the services the program provides, the cost-benefit ratio, and/ or the program's impact. *Felicia Cohn, Ph.D. served as the Study Director for the Committee on the Training Needs of Health Professionals to Respond to Family Violence of the Institute of Medicine, National Academies of Sciences and Engineering, in Washington, DC. The views expressedi in this paper reflect her interpretation of the committee's process and findings. Neither the National Academies nor members of the committee are responsible for the opinions expressed. 10 FEDERAL PROBATION Volume 6fi Number 2 !

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most