The ethical guidelines for the American Evaluation Association and the principles of community-based participatory evaluation both state the importance of equitable stakeholder involvement. Regardless of the evaluation approach, however, evaluators are often confronted with gatekeepers, or those who control the access to stakeholders, information,…

The present study examined how narcissistic features, self-assessed lie- and truth-related abilities, and thinking processing style influence successful lying and convincing truth-telling. To this end, 100 undergraduate students completed the NPI, REI, and LTAAS questionnaires and drew two drawings each. They then presented to a panel of four…

Evaluations are practiced in political contexts, posing ethical dilemmas to evaluators. It is important, therefore, to prepare evaluation students for ethical decision-making in their future evaluative work. This study explores the use of scenario-based moral reasoning and ethical argumentation as an instructional strategy for teaching evaluation…

"The Belmont Report" was written in 1979 to address the abuse of human participants in biomedical research. In the report, three ethical principles were described: (1) "beneficence," which describes an act of charity or kindness that maximizes possible benefits while minimizing possible harms; (2) "justice," described…

The increasing demand of constituents to conduct analyses in order to help inform the decision-making process has led to the need for Institutional Research (IR) guidelines for community college educators. One method of maintaining the quality of research conducted by IR staff is to include professional development about ethics. This article…

Evaluators face challenges when programs consistently fail to meet expectations for performance or improvement and consequently, evaluators may recommend that closing a program is the most prudent course of action. However, the evaluation literature provides little guidance regarding when an evaluator might recommend program closure. Given…

In this article, the authors discuss the technologies of normalization and self in relation to ethics and the problematization of extrinsic research ethics. They argue that institutional review boards (IRBs) and other similar institutional mechanisms promote extrinsic forms of ethics that are exemplified through institutionalized structures such…

This issue's scenario, To Participate or Not to Participate, describes an evaluator's shift in method from nonparticipant to participant observation. Although evaluation theorists differ on the extent to which methods decisions are ethical decisions (Morris, 1998), neither of the two commentators considers the methodological decision problematic;…

This scenario discusses a situation in which a proposal has been published by a consortium of foundations for an "external" evaluator to evaluate a replication at two new sites of a program they have been funding for many years. A proposal is received from Dr. Porto-Novo, who has been the external evaluator of the initial program for about 10…

Is it appropriate and useful for evaluators to use findings to make recommendations? If so, under what circumstances? How specific should they be? This article presents a decision-making framework for the appropriateness of recommendations in varying contexts. On the basis of reviews of evaluation theory, selected evaluation reports, and feedback…

Bertram S. Brown, former director of the National Institute of Mental Health, discusses conflicts between scientific and value dimensions of evaluation. He relates this conflict to: usefulness of mental health program evaluations; conduct of internal evaluations; release of findings; training; rating of reports; and planned change consultation.…

This case involves a dilemma that school district evaluators frequently face. A superintendent directs an evaluator to participate in a press conference and present data validating the superintendent's program to improve high school course-passing rates. The evaluator presents his analysis to the superintendent, who directs him to remove some data…

Ethical problems in program evaluation are increased when conflicting or incompatible models are applied concurrently. Three models are illustrated: an amelioration model, for a program's own decision makers; an accountability model, focusing on public data disclosure; and an advocacy model, designed to advance the program's interest. Case…

The Senate confirmation hearings concerning Robert Gates as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) highlight the problems evaluators share with the CIA of keeping policy imperatives out of the search for truth. The CIA at least has a structure for keeping information pure, but many evaluations do not. (SLD)