In this article, we discuss the methodological implications of data and theory integration for Theory-Based Evaluation (TBE). TBE is a family of approaches to program evaluation that use program theories as instruments to answer questions about whether, how, and why a program works. Some of the groundwork about TBE has expressed the idea that a…

Logic modeling, the process that explicates how programs are constructed and theorized to bring about change, is considered to be standard evaluation practice. However, logic modeling is often experienced as a transactional, jargon-laden, discrete task undertaken to produce a document to comply with the expectations of an external entity, the…

Social justice evaluation approaches advance antioppressive and culturally responsive methods to mitigate societal inequalities. However, social justice efforts will fall short if they focus solely on one side of inequality: oppression. Accordingly, this article argues that the other side of inequality--privilege--needs to be scrutinized. This…

This paper develops a novel approach called Outcome Trajectory Evaluation (OTE) in response to the long-causal-chain problem confronting the evaluation of research for development (R4D) projects. OTE strives to tackle four issues resulting from the common practice of evaluating R4D projects based on theory of change developed at the start. The…

This article shares lessons learned in applying system evaluation theory (SET) to evaluate a Clinical and Translational Research Center (CTR) funded by the National Institutes of Health. After describing how CTR support cores are intended to work interdependently as a system, the case is made for SET as the best fit for evaluating this evaluand.…

This article presents an approach to use complex adaptive systems thinking to construct a theory of change to plan and evaluate transformational interventions. The article draws on the concepts of domains, scales, agents, and emergence to build a model of the system targeted by the intervention, to identify the chains of causality driving the…

"Lesson study" has garnered considerable attention from educational researchers and practitioners as a promising method for improving instruction. At its core, lesson study reflects a collaborative inquiry process, grounded in cycles of planning, enacting, and reflecting, that promotes teacher learning through active engagement in lesson…

Our third article on the history of evaluation use affirms its importance in evaluation practice and related literature. It first highlights the centrality of use in the field's professionalizing documents, extant theories, and the persistence of continuing research. Next, it discusses the challenge of evaluation theories in general, including the…

This study analyzes evaluation influence theories to understand their unified contributions to a conceptual framework for research on evaluation influence in non-western contexts. Specifically, these theories are analyzed according to their usefulness for interpreting the consequences of the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)--a cyclical,…

Marvin Alkin and Jean King published three AJE articles on evaluation use over four years, a coherent and comprehensive series covering the historical development of evaluation use, definitions and factors associated with use and misuse, and theories of evaluation use and influence, concluding with assessment of the first 50 years of use research.…

Despite a wide body of literature on the importance of program theory and the need to tackle complexity to improve international development programming, the use of program theory to underpin interventions aimed at facilitating change in complex systems remains a challenge for many program practitioners. The actor-based change framework offers a…

Sustainable community health improvement often requires the implementation of complex interventions in complex systems. Drawing from the "Four Keys to Success" frame (theory, implementation, support, and evaluation), this article describes how we used a formative evaluation approach to foster a learning system capable of monitoring and…

In response to Eleanor Chelimsky's inspiring plenary address 3 years ago, and with generous support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Eastern Evaluation Research Society launched the Eleanor Chelimsky Forum at its 2013 Annual Conference. The objective of this annual Forum, which has become a hallmark event in the evaluation world, is to…

William Dean Crano is the Stuart Oskamp Distinguished Professor of Psychology in the School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences at Claremont Graduate University. A social psychologist, Crano received his MS and PhD degrees from Northwestern University, where Donald T. Campbell was his advisor and mentor. Dr. Crano has served on the faculties…

Theory of change (ToC) is currently "the" approach for the evaluation and planning of international development programs. This approach is considered especially suitable for complex interventions. We question this assumption and argue that ToC's focus on cause-effect logic and intended outcomes does not do justice to the recursive nature…