Social Evaluator Carol Weiss

Paper Summary:

This paper presents the work of Carol Weiss in developing concepts of program evaluation, program development and decision making. This paper defines evaluation as the systematic assessment of the operation and the outcomes of a program or policy, compared to a set of explicit or implicit standards, as a means of contributing to the improvement of the program of policy. The author believes that it is fruitful to look further into Weiss? theory-based evaluation process and into her assertion that it is social science ideas, rather than statistics, which really impact the public process.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Program Evaluation
Researchers and Practitioners (1970s)
Ideology, Interests and Information (1980s)
Program Evaluation (1990s)
Critiques
Evaluation
Summary, Recommendations and Conclusions

From the Paper:

"This is the beginning of Weiss' work in exploring the importance of values, and value conflicts, in program development, operation and evaluation. If there are two different types of people involved in the process, with two opposed sets of values, the likely result is conflict. The researcher does not have a vested interest in the success of the practitioner's program, or the well-being of the people with whom the practitioner is concerned. Correspondingly, the practitioner does not have an interest in knowledge creation, except insofar as that knowledge can be applied to the program to assist in the furtherance of program goals. The two sets of interests develop naturally from the differing value systems of the participants in the process."

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