Mind the Gap: Perspectives on Policy Evaluation and the Social SciencesJos Vaessen, Frans L. Leeuw Over the past twenty to thirty years, evaluation has become increasingly important to the field of public policy. The number of people involved and specializing in evaluation has also increased markedly. Evidence of this trend can be found in the International Atlas of Evaluation, the establishment of new journals and evaluation societies, and the increase in systems of evaluation. Increasingly, the main reference point has become an assessment of the merit and value of interventions as such rather than the evaluator's disciplinary background. This growing importance of evaluation as an activity has also led to an increasing demand for the type of competencies evaluators should have. Evaluation began as a niche area within the social and behavioral sciences. It subsequently became linked to policy research and analysis, and has, more recently, become trans-disciplinary. This volume demonstrates an association between the evaluation tradition in a particular country or policy field and the nature of the relationship between social and behavioral science research and evaluative practice. This book seeks to offer comprehensive data, which lead to conclusions about patterns that transcend the gap between evaluation and the social scientific disciplines. Mind the Gap has a twofold aim. The first is to highlight and characterize the gap between evaluation practices and debates, and the substantive knowledge debates within the social and behavioral sciences. The second is to show why this gap is problematic for the practice of evaluation, while at the same time illustrating possible ways to build bridges. The book is centered on the value of producing useful evaluations grounded in social science theory and research. |
Other editions - View all
Mind the Gap: Perspectives on Policy Evaluation and the Social Sciences Jos Vaessen Limited preview - 2017 |
Common terms and phrases
academic assessment assumptions behavioral sciences benefits budget causal chapter citations context contributions cost-benefit analysis countries crime criminological theory defined definition development evaluation disciplines economic effects empirical evaluation approaches evaluation research evaluative practice Evidence-based policy example explain field find findings first framework gap between evaluation group theory identified impact implementation increased influence intervention theory INTEVAL group INTEVAL members Journal knowledge Leeuw maize mechanisms Megan’s Law mentoring Merton methodology methods middle range theory Nobel OECD offenders Office Organizational Learning outcomes patterns Pawson and Tilley percent performance measurement perspective potential problem Program Evaluation program theory Public Administration public choice theory public management Public Policy rational actor theory Realistic Evaluation reconstruction reference group refined relevant risk Rist role Rossi Sage Publications significant social and behavioral social science theory sociology specific stakeholders substantive theoretical theory-oriented evaluation tion Transaction Publishers variables Weiss World Bank