A discussion of current issues in evaluation, related to society's expectation that evaluation is based on scientific authority, is followed by an exploration of concepts of "validity" and "values." The role of the evaluator is increasingly involved in issues of ethics and social justice. (SLD)

Evaluators vary in their propensity to make direct valuative judgments of program worth. The decision to include recommendations with a report or provide merely descriptive evaluation depends on individuals' perspectives concerning the nature of reality, truth and values, human agency, and informational utility. (SLD)

Some of the confusion surrounding evaluations of case management results from lack of clarity about value frames used to arrive at judgments of the merit of case management. Six value frames commonly applied to human service evaluation are reviewed, and the relevance of each perspective is examined. (SLD)