Although most evaluators are familiar with participatory evaluation (PE), the ability to measure stakeholder participation in an evaluation remains challenging. Based on Cousins and Whitmore's (1998) PE theoretical model, Daigneault and Jacob (2009, 2012, 2014) developed an instrument for measuring the degree to which an evaluation can be…

Evaluation competency frameworks across the globe regard evaluation approaches as important to know and use in practice. Prior classifications have been developed to aid in understanding important differences among varying approaches. Nevertheless, there is an opportunity for a new classification of evaluation approaches, in particular one that is…

Narrative case studies have shown that, when people are involved in an evaluation of a program they are part of, it can change how they experience the program. This study used a quasi-experiment to test this proposition empirically in the context a participatory action research curriculum called Youth as Researchers. Half of all Youth as…

Youth participatory evaluation (YPE) engages young people in the evaluation process. Over the last 20 years, the field has emerged, but more work is needed as evaluators explore the potential for youth participation within their own evaluation practices. This article describes a practice-oriented matrix for visualizing and conceptualizing the role…

As global discussions of evaluation standards become more contextually nuanced, culturally responsive conceptions of ethics have not been sufficiently discussed. In academic social research, ethical clearance processes have been designed to protect vulnerable people from harm related to participation in a research project. This article expands the…

Social justice--oriented evaluation approaches are described as participatory, culturally and contextually responsive, and self-empowering. These evaluation approaches call for the genuine participation of stakeholders for sound evaluations, particularly those outside of decision-making and service providing. Similarly, hip-hop is commonly…

Evaluation professionals need to be nimble and innovative in their approaches in order to be relevant and provide useful evidence to decision-makers, stakeholders, and society in the crowded public policy landscape. In this article, we offer serious games as a method that can be employed by evaluators to address three persisting challenges in…

Participatory evaluation approaches have a relatively long history of advocacy and application in the international development evaluation community. Despite widespread use and apparent resonance with practitioners and donors alike, very little empirical research exists on why and how participatory evaluation approaches are used in international…

This article describes lessons learned about implementing evaluations in hospital settings. In order to overcome the methodological dilemmas inherent in this environment, we used a practical participatory evaluation (P-PE) strategy to engage as many stakeholders as possible in the process of evaluating a clinical demonstration project.…

The client of a student evaluation team has requested that the evaluators provide confidential identifying information gathered in the course of the evaluation. Here, the authors consider their response to the client's request. Specifically, they draw from professional principles developed to guide ethical decision making for evaluators and…

While participatory evaluation (PE) constitutes an important trend in the field of evaluation, its ontology has not been systematically analyzed. As a result, the concept of PE is ambiguous and inadequately theorized. Furthermore, no existing instrument accurately measures stakeholder participation. First, this article attempts to overcome these…

This article is concerned with the underpinnings of practical participatory evaluation (PPE). Evaluation approaches have long been criticized because their results are often not used. It is believed that PPE addresses this drawback. The article focuses on the mechanisms underlying the links between activities and consequences in PPE. A PPE theory…

Evaluators are often faced with many challenges in the design and implementation of a program's evaluation. Because programs are entangled in complex networks of structures and stakeholders, they can be challenging to understand, and they often pose issues of competing and conflicting goals. However, by using a systems mapping approach to…

The purpose of this article is to describe a new collaborative immersion approach for developing evaluation capacity that was used in kindergarten through Grade 12 (K-12) schools and to place this new approach on a continuum of existing capacity-building methods. The continuum extends from individualistic training-oriented methods to collaborative…

Including youth in the evaluation process can enhance the quality of the inquiry and be empowering for the participants, but it is not without challenges. In this article, several principles for youth-involved research and evaluation are outlined. These come from those who are pioneering this approach and from current research on the dilemmas of…