Public Administration Review · 1990 · 40 citations · 4 references
Public AffairsPublic AdministrationPublic PolicyAuditingPerformance AssessmentPerformance MeasurementEvaluation DesignEvaluation PlanningOutcome EvaluationPerformance AuditingPerformance EvaluationProcess EvaluationProgram AuditProgram Evaluation ModelsProgram Performance AssessmentProgram Performance AuditProgram Performance EvaluationProgram Performance Measurement
Program evaluation is diverse, and major perspectives shape how evaluations are conceptualized, conducted, and reported, though the authors note that their inferences represent tendencies rather than absolutes. The article compares auditing and evaluation research to assess differences in foci, independence, quality control, and practitioner professionalism. The authors perform this comparison by analyzing these dimensions across auditing and evaluation research. Legislators and agency managers should consider these tendencies when establishing and assessing program evaluation units, and if policymakers fail to specify expectations, practitioners will impose their own theoretical biases.
Given the diversity of program evaluation, it is difficult to generalize about it, but certain major perspectives affect how evaluations are conceptualized, conducted, and reported. This article compares auditing with evaluation research in terms of foci, independence, quality control, and professionalism of program evaluation practitioners. It is important to note that the inferences drawn here represent tendencies rather than absolutes. Nevertheless, the theme is that legislators and executive agency managers should consider these tendencies before establishing program evaluation units and consider them again as they assess the performance of those units. If public policy makers do not carefully consider what they expect from program evaluation and incorporate those expectations into their requests for evaluations, then program evaluation practitioners will make these decisions for them according to their own theoretical and philosophical predispositions.
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