Urban Jennifer Brown, Hargraves Monica, Trochim William M
Department of Family and Child Studies, Montclair State University, 1 Normal Avenue, University Hall 4144, Montclair, NJ 07043, United States.
Cornell Office for Research on Evaluation, Cornell University, 2301 Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, United States.
Eval Program Plann. 2014 Aug;45:127-39. doi: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2014.03.011. Epub 2014 Mar 30.
Evolutionary theory, developmental systems theory, and evolutionary epistemology provide deep theoretical foundations for understanding programs, their development over time, and the role of evaluation. This paper relates core concepts from these powerful bodies of theory to program evaluation. Evolutionary Evaluation is operationalized in terms of program and evaluation evolutionary phases, which are in turn aligned with multiple types of validity. The model of Evolutionary Evaluation incorporates Chen's conceptualization of bottom-up versus top-down program development. The resulting framework has important implications for many program management and evaluation issues. The paper illustrates how an Evolutionary Evaluation perspective can illuminate important controversies in evaluation using the example of the appropriate role of randomized controlled trials that encourages a rethinking of "evidence-based programs". From an Evolutionary Evaluation perspective, prevailing interpretations of rigor and mandates for evidence-based programs pose significant challenges to program evolution. This perspective also illuminates the consequences of misalignment between program and evaluation phases; the importance of supporting both researcher-derived and practitioner-derived programs; and the need for variation and evolutionary phase diversity within portfolios of programs.
进化理论、发展系统理论和进化认识论为理解项目、其随时间的发展以及评估的作用提供了深厚的理论基础。本文将这些强大理论体系中的核心概念与项目评估联系起来。进化评估依据项目和评估的进化阶段来实施，而这些阶段又与多种类型的效度相一致。进化评估模型纳入了陈关于自下而上与自上而下项目开发的概念化。由此产生的框架对许多项目管理和评估问题具有重要意义。本文以随机对照试验的适当作用为例，说明进化评估视角如何能够阐明评估中的重要争议，这鼓励人们重新思考“基于证据的项目”。从进化评估的角度来看，对严格性的主流解释以及对基于证据项目的要求给项目进化带来了重大挑战。这个视角还阐明了项目阶段与评估阶段不一致的后果；支持研究者主导和从业者主导项目的重要性；以及项目组合中多样性和进化阶段多样性的必要性。
