The Historical Development of Evaluation Use

The first article in this series traces the initial development of the concept of evaluation use. As a field, evaluation has always paid attention to the potential for use, both in decision-making and in changing people’s thinking. The broad history of the field as we know it today stemmed from two...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe American journal of evaluation Vol. 37; no. 4; pp. 568 - 579
Main Authors Alkin, Marvin C., King, Jean A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.12.2016
Subjects
Educational Development
Educational History
Educational Practices
Evaluation Utilization
Intellectual History
Measurement Objectives
Social Science Research
Use Studies
conceptual use
measurement influence
social research influence
process use
instrumental use
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Summary:The first article in this series traces the initial development of the concept of evaluation use. As a field, evaluation has always paid attention to the potential for use, both in decision-making and in changing people’s thinking. The broad history of the field as we know it today stemmed from two streams: one focused on tests and measurement, primarily in education, and a second focused on social research methods, primarily concerning knowledge utilization. Evaluation use had its roots in both streams, resulting in three broad categories for discussing the use of evaluation findings: instrumental use, conceptual use or enlightenment, and symbolic use. The additional category of process use, added years later, highlighted the potential utility of people’s participation in the evaluation process.
ISSN:1098-2140
1557-0878
DOI:10.1177/1098214016665164