1Evaluation Fundamentals
This book is based on the premise that evaluation, as defined in this and following chapters, can and should enhance the quality of interventions (policies and programs) designed to solve or ameliorate problems in social and corporate settings. Evaluation should be seen as a process of knowledge production, which rests on the use of rigorous empirical enquiry. Evaluation will be worth the investment of time and money if the knowledge produced is reliable, responsive to the needs of policy and program stakeholders, and can be applied by these stakeholders.
Evaluation is not an alien activity for most of us. We engage informally in evaluative activity in our everyday lives. What clothes to wear on a given day, whether ...
