Values in Evaluation and Social Research - Softcover

House, Ernest R.; Howe, Kenneth R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0761911553 ISBN 13: 9780761911555

Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc, 1999

Synopsis

Using the tools of philosophy and the insights from evaluation practice this book examines the concept of values in program evaluation. The authors analyze four views of facts and values in evaluation: those rooted in a fact-value dichotomy; those of radical constructivists; those of postmodernists; and those of deliberative democrats. The arguments are tough, the explanations concise and the insights compelling.

`Goes well beyong recognizing that all data gathering and description are value laden. The authors of this book examine the ethical and political burdens accompanying any evaluation contract. House has gained a reputation in professional exchanges as an advocate of the underprivileged. Out of an extended collaboration, Howe and House together redirect their advocacy towards the pursuit of democracy' - Robert E Stake, University of Illinois, Urbana

`A breakthrough book that will change the way evaluators think about the relationship between facts and values. The authors attack the inconsistencies in current thinking about the interplay of facts and values and give us an outline for reconstituting the approach to values within evaluation' - Gary T Henry, Georgia State University

About this title

Review:

"This book, as the title promises, unfurls the concept of value in the practice of program evaluation. The editors go well beyond recognizing that all data gathering and description are value laden and that all evaluators have value commitments shaping thei designs. They examine the ethical and political burdens accompanying any evaluation contract. Out of an extended collaboration, Kenneth R. Howe and Ernest R. House together redirect their advocacy toward the pursuit of democracy." 

(Robert E. Stake)

About this edition

• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0761911553
• ISBN 13: 9780761911555
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 174