Y. S. Lincoln and E. G. Guba consider L. Sechrest's comments on their book "Fourth Generation Evaluation" as less a criticism than an attempt to demolish. D. M. Fetterman also objects to much of Sechrest's address. E. J. Posavac generally agrees with conclusions of Welch and Sternhagen. (SLD)

Definitions of and approaches to naturalistic evaluation are discussed. The qualitative aspects of the discipline are reviewed; and use of naturalistic evaluation in descriptions, illustrations, explications, hypothesis testing, and assessment of public spending are defined. A new paradigm for naturalistic evaluation is proposed. (TJH)

Ten evaluation models are examined in terms of their applicability to investigative, emergent design programs: Stake's portrayal, Wolf's adversary, Patton's utilization, Guba's investigative journalism, Scriven's goal-free, Scriven's modus operandi, Eisner's connoisseurial, Stufflebeam's CIPP, Tyler's objective based, and Levin's cost…

Egon G. Guba and Yvonna S. Lincoln were among the first to develop a set of extensive criteria for establishing naturalistic inquiry as a disciplined research methodology. The naturalistic paradigm--also called post-positivist, ethnographic, phenomenological, and qualitative--has gained acceptance as a legitimate alternative to the previously…

An expanded vision of evaluation is offered that accommodates the use of both descriptive information and evaluative information, and which connects evaluation in the naturalistic paradigm with evaluation in the rationalistic paradigm for making informed decisions within programs of education and development. The model of "Information Development…

The status of formal recommendations is different in the naturalistic evaluation model than in the traditional empirical model. The evaluation of a high school peer support program for alcohol abuse prevention illustrates that reader-generated recommendations may have more usefulness and impact than do evaluator-generated ideas. (SLD)

A framework is proposed for evaluating the learning ecology and processes created by information technology in schools and developing an ecological model for research. The evaluation of Project Comptown, an intervention with extensive use of computers in two Israeli communities (with over 6,000 students), illustrates the framework. (SLD)

In order to obtain firsthand information about different approaches and strategies for curriculum integration, case studies of curriculum integration models were conducted in seven sites across the United States. It was concluded that the presence or lack of certain contextual factors related to structure and operations had implications for the…