Summary: Researching Evaluation Influence: A Review Of The Literature

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• 1 Introduction

• What is according to Patton (2008) the main job of an evaluator?

  According to Grob (2003) and Patton (1997) evaluations that are not used, regardless of their quality, tend to be considered failures; the job of an evaluator is often not just to produce findings but to practice in a way that is likely to have an impact (Patton, 2008) and to go some way toward fostering the implementation of findings (Lawrenz, Gullickson & Toal, 2007).

• What am I to learn in this article?

  In this article I am to learn about the development of research into the impact of evaluation over the period 1970 to the present day.
  I am also to learn about:
  

  1. how researchers have defined evaluation influence,
     
  2. how evaluation influence has been researched,
  3. what does this research suggest?
     

• 1.1 Use/Utilization 1970-1986

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• What did the review of Cousins and Leithwood (1986) suggest?

  The studies included inCousins and Leithwood's review, suggest the future development of the influence framework through categories of studies that recognize more subtle effects than direct use.

• So what are the keywords to characterize 'Evaluation research during the period 1970-1986'?

  So the keywords to characterize evaluation research during the period 1970-1986 are ''researching direct impact on decision''.
  The taxonomy of evaluation use was for a long time as in:
  a) Instrumental use of evaluation research (is a direct, documented ad specific use
  b) Conceptual use of evaluation research is where the info is absorbed into the common knowledge
  c) Symbolic/persuasive use is about involvement of an evaluation for ulterior motives (either legitimative or symbolic use, and either for using research as an argument to make changes or delaying decisions.

• 1.2 Evaluation Use/Impact 1986-2000

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• Why were the Weiss-Patton debates so important for post-1986 evaluation theory'?

  The Weiss-Patton debates were so important for post-1986 evaluation theory because they polarized and energized theory on the ideal nature of evaluation use.

• What was the main difference between Weiss's and Patton's view on the ideal nature of evaluation use?

  Weiss (1988b) advocated evaluators accepting the reality of organizational decision making and to focus on producing sound evaluations encouraging evaluators to aspire to instrumental use, but not to use instrumental use as a sign of the success or quality of an evaluation.
  
  Patton's (1988) position was that evaluators should actively engage in fostering the usefulness of evaluation by delivering the information and processes that meet the needs of the comisioners of the evaluation.

• 1.3 Evaluation Influence 2000 to Present

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• What do researchers say about where best to study the effects of evaluation?

  Researchers argue that influence is better suited to the study of the effects of evaluation in an organizational context, becaus e of well-established mechanisms of change from the social sciences (Cousins, 2004; Poth, 2008; Weiss et al., 2005).

• 2 The Evaluation Influence Frameworks

• Which conceptual frameworks are mentioned by James Leslie Herbert?

  Kirkhart (2003)
  Alkin and Taut (2003)
  Henry and Mark (2003a)
  
  Consistent with their argument for influence to be understood as an extension of use, Kirkhart (2000) Alkin and Taut's (2003) models incorporate use with awareness as the threshold for influence.
  
  Henry and Mark's frameworks construct influence as the broadest understanding of the effect an evaluation can have, subsuming evaluation use within it, and advocating for thinking about and researching influence in terms of underlying mechanisms.

• What important difference is there to be found between the framework of Alkin and Taut vs that of Kirkhart?

  Alkin and Taut's (2003) framework slightly differs from Kirkhart with the inclusion of awareness, which they suggest reprecent the difference between use and influence.

• 2.1 A Review of Evaluation Influence

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• In which categories are the studies presented in this category?

  The studies in this review are presented in 3 categories:
  

  1. descriptive research where influence concepts were used to describe how the impact of research played out
  2. analytical research which uses influence concepts to explain or infer how examples of influence came about
  3. hypothesis testing that directly tests hypotheses about the mechanisms underlying influence in a real world or laboratory setting.