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Evaluation influence is a reconceptualization of evaluation use that reflects the broad and diffuse impacts an evaluation can have on social programs and policies. This way of thinking about impact provides an opportunity to investigate how and why evaluations influence social programs and policy. Twenty participants (practitioners and managers) from two child protection programs evaluated in the previous 24 months were interviewed about the influence of these evaluations, which was complemented with the collection of internal documents about changes to the programs. A qualitative case study analysis of evaluation influence was conducted using the interviews and documents to investigate the influence of two evaluations at different stages in the dissemination process. The participants identified that the evaluations appeared to have significant high-level policy level influence; however, limited examples of influence on practices in the programs were identified. There was some suggestion that the evaluations had increased practitioner interest in working with and participating in program evaluations. The findings suggest the importance of developmental evaluation approaches and practitioner engagement in evaluation to improve the influence and adoption of new knowledge from the evaluation of social programs.

Background:The impact of an evaluation is an important consideration in designing and carrying out evaluations. Evaluation influence is a way of thinking about the effect that an evaluation can have in the broadest possible terms, which its proponents argue will lead to a systematic body of evidence about influential evaluation practices.Method:This literature review sets out to address three research questions: How have researchers defined evaluation influence; how is this reflected in the research; and what does the research suggest about the utility of evaluation influence as a conceptual framework. Drawing on studies that had cited one of the key evaluation influence articles and conducted original research on some aspect of influence this article reviewed the current state of the literature toward the goal of developing a body of evidence about how to practice influential evaluation.Results:Twenty-eight studies were found that have drawn on evaluation influence, which were categorized into (a) descriptive studies, (b) analytical studies, and (c) hypothesis testing.Conclusion:Despite the prominence of evaluation influence in the literature, there is slow progress toward a persuasive body of literature. Many of the studies reviewed offered vague and inconsistent definitions and have applied influence in an unspecified way in the research. It is hoped that this article will stimulate interest in the systematic study of influence mechanisms, leading to improvements in the potential for evaluation to affect positive social change.