Suchergebnisse

The evaluation of research is an activity undergoing change. The traditional peer review system with its focus on scientific content and methodology has long been the backbone of research evaluation, but over the last three decades other criteria and considerations have also been integrated into the evaluation of science. This article investigates how recent societal developments - epitomized by the concept of the agora - influence research evaluations and how we perceive them. Are they still grounded in a scientific rationale, or are they more to be understood as a result of a social rationale?

Evaluators of an organization whose programmes or policies are under evaluation frequently encounter anxiety and resistance from the evaluees. Literature abounds with suggestions for developing collaborative interactions. Few studies, if any, show circumstances where the evaluees' need for co-operation and support transcends the inherent anxiety and resistance and triggers for the evaluees' desire for moral support and advice. An analysis of the socio-psychological factors involved in the circumstances described in this study may shed light on how the evaluator can develop the evaluation process to enhance the collaboration with the evaluees. Here we report and analyse three case histories of such evaluations to determine the critical features of the evaluations that made them collaborative rather than conflictual. The common issues raised shed light on practices that alleviate anxiety in the evaluation process.