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AbstractJody Fitzpatrick gives examples of her father's influence on her learning to be rational and her mother's examples of emotion and intuition. Jody has found ways to include both values in her personal life, with greater emphasis on the rational search for evidence in her professional work both as a professor and as an evaluator. See the interview document here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1002/ev.20296/suppinfo. Read only. This should not be used in any form without explicit permission from the author.

AbstractEvaluators have written about the need to consider context in conducting evaluations, but most such admonitions are broad. Context is not developed fully. This chapter reviews the evaluation literature on context and discusses the two areas in which context has been more carefully considered by evaluators: the culture of program participants when their culture is different from the predominant one and the cultural norms of program participants in countries outside the West. We have learned much about how the culture of participants or communities can affect evaluation and should continue our learning there. Evaluators also need to expand their consideration of context to consider the program itself and its setting and the political norms of audiences, decision makers, and other stakeholders of the program. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc., and the American Evaluation Association.

AbstractThe author argues that insufficient attention has been given to the study of ethical codes in evaluation‐related consulting professions. She examines the ethical codes within evaluation and related disciplines and professions and discusses implications for content, dissemination, and compliance.

AbstractThe author views the main purpose of evaluation training programs as preparing practitioners. She suggests that evaluation training programs could consider the model provided by professional schools.

Measures used in evaluating drunk driving treatment programs over the last 15 years are reviewed and critiqued in terms of construct validity. The concept of triangulation with increased use of self-report and collateral measures is recommended over the current reliance on the single outcome measure of rearrest. Greater attention to collecting data on processes and intermediate outcomes is also recommended to provide information for program improvement, dissemination, and identification of effective treatment models. Ambiguity concerning program goals and directions is cited as another related problem area which has led to unintended differences in program philosophies and methods.

Using as a case study the evaluation of a drunk drivers treatment program, the author describes the political roles and actions she took to plan the evaluation and disseminate the results. This case is representative of situations to which evaluators will be exposed as privatization of service delivery increases and authority for and ownership of such programs becomes more decentral ized and diffuse. The evaluator must take an active role in identifying the needs, perspectives, and potential authority and influence of each audience and must be prepared to encourage audiences to address new issues where gaps in accountability have emerged.

This article describes the role of the evaluator in planning and implementing an evaluation study of a new program to train school administrators in performance appraisal skills. Models developed by Chelimsky (1987) concerning the political continuum an evaluator follows and by Rossi and Freeman (1985) concerning the evaluation of innovative pro grams are used to analyze the role of the evaluator in affecting utilization. The case illustrates the similarities and differences between the federal, policy-level programs discussed by Chelimsky and locally based programs with both program and policy-level audiences. Further, the case demonstrates the broadened role of the evaluator in assisting in planning and developing an innovative program.