Pub Date : 2023-02-12DOI: 10.1177/1035719x231156457
Scott Bayley
This is a book about bullsh*t. It is a book about how we are often inundated with it, about how we can learn to see through it, and about how we can fight back. The world is awash with bullsh*t, and we are drowning in it. Politicians appear to be unconstrained by facts. Science is conducted by press release. Advertisers invite us to join them in accepting half-truths. Bullsh*t corrupts our world by misleading people about specific issues, it undermines our ability to trust information in general and it harms our democratic processes. The aim of this book is to help readers face the onslaught and separate fact from fiction.
{"title":"Book Review: Calling bullsh*t: The art of scepticism in a data-driven world","authors":"Scott Bayley","doi":"10.1177/1035719x231156457","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1035719x231156457","url":null,"abstract":"This is a book about bullsh*t. It is a book about how we are often inundated with it, about how we can learn to see through it, and about how we can fight back. The world is awash with bullsh*t, and we are drowning in it. Politicians appear to be unconstrained by facts. Science is conducted by press release. Advertisers invite us to join them in accepting half-truths. Bullsh*t corrupts our world by misleading people about specific issues, it undermines our ability to trust information in general and it harms our democratic processes. The aim of this book is to help readers face the onslaught and separate fact from fiction.","PeriodicalId":37231,"journal":{"name":"Evaluation Journal of Australasia","volume":"23 1","pages":"167 - 169"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43538395","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-02-06DOI: 10.1177/1035719X231155967
Kylie L. Kingston
As editor of A Research Agenda for Evaluation, Peter Dahler-Larsen boldly opens the book by critiquing distinctions of evaluation as a logical process, a semi-professional field, a socio-political practice, and as evaluation research. The discussion points to the necessity of a ‘skeptical turn’ (p. 4), shining a light on the modernist and rational assumptions underpinning much of evaluation practice. From within this contextual framing arises the critical agenda for the future of evaluation research and the purpose of the book, being ‘to offer a fresh perspective on a new research agenda for evaluation, while taking complications and reflexivities onboard’ (p. 4). Rather than presenting answers, a series of questions are provided to promote critical thinking and point toward areas of importance for this new research agenda. These areas include:
{"title":"Book Review: A research agenda for evaluation","authors":"Kylie L. Kingston","doi":"10.1177/1035719X231155967","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1035719X231155967","url":null,"abstract":"As editor of A Research Agenda for Evaluation, Peter Dahler-Larsen boldly opens the book by critiquing distinctions of evaluation as a logical process, a semi-professional field, a socio-political practice, and as evaluation research. The discussion points to the necessity of a ‘skeptical turn’ (p. 4), shining a light on the modernist and rational assumptions underpinning much of evaluation practice. From within this contextual framing arises the critical agenda for the future of evaluation research and the purpose of the book, being ‘to offer a fresh perspective on a new research agenda for evaluation, while taking complications and reflexivities onboard’ (p. 4). Rather than presenting answers, a series of questions are provided to promote critical thinking and point toward areas of importance for this new research agenda. These areas include:","PeriodicalId":37231,"journal":{"name":"Evaluation Journal of Australasia","volume":"23 1","pages":"116 - 119"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45730973","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-04DOI: 10.1177/1035719X231151245
K. Adusei-Asante
{"title":"Book Review: Nonprofit program evaluation made simple: Get your data. Show your impact. Improve your programs","authors":"K. Adusei-Asante","doi":"10.1177/1035719X231151245","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1035719X231151245","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":37231,"journal":{"name":"Evaluation Journal of Australasia","volume":"23 1","pages":"62 - 64"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45706599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-21DOI: 10.1177/1035719x221146362
S. Harrison
This paper is a personal re fl ection from an emerging evaluator ’ s perspective as I unpack the learnings of a recent evaluation commission and share insights on the personal growth required when undertaking transformative evaluation practice. In learning how to weave together diverse cultural perspectives, guided by the principle of self-determination, I re fl ect on practice and positioning as an evaluator working at the cultural interface.
{"title":"Evaluator Perspective: ‘Weaving together’ – Learnings from the field when working with diverse knowledges towards transformative practice","authors":"S. Harrison","doi":"10.1177/1035719x221146362","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1035719x221146362","url":null,"abstract":"This paper is a personal re fl ection from an emerging evaluator ’ s perspective as I unpack the learnings of a recent evaluation commission and share insights on the personal growth required when undertaking transformative evaluation practice. In learning how to weave together diverse cultural perspectives, guided by the principle of self-determination, I re fl ect on practice and positioning as an evaluator working at the cultural interface.","PeriodicalId":37231,"journal":{"name":"Evaluation Journal of Australasia","volume":"23 1","pages":"111 - 115"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42664801","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-15DOI: 10.1177/1035719x221145252
Conrad Maralngurra, D. Yibarbuk, Terrah Guymala, Rosemary Nabulwad
{"title":"A conversation with West Arnhem community researchers","authors":"Conrad Maralngurra, D. Yibarbuk, Terrah Guymala, Rosemary Nabulwad","doi":"10.1177/1035719x221145252","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1035719x221145252","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":37231,"journal":{"name":"Evaluation Journal of Australasia","volume":"23 1","pages":"59 - 61"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44070469","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-11-22DOI: 10.1177/1035719X221139858
C. Street, Belinda Kendall, Tina McGhie, Lauren O’Flaherty, Darren Schaeffer
Cultural safety is of utmost concern across the evaluation world, particularly given the way that evaluation and research have historically been implicated in colonising practices of the West. This article aims to examine the meaning of cultural safety in the context of an Aboriginal majority-owned consulting organisation that provides evaluation services to organisations where First Nations governance systems and processes may be unknown. This is a critically reflexive article that considers how the dual aims of contributing to self-determination and building First Nations business capacity may be managed in such evaluation projects. We apply Duke et al.’s Culturally Adaptive Governance Framework to our own evaluation work in striving for evaluations to be experienced as culturally safe by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stakeholders and for evaluation outcomes to be relevant and useful from the perspective of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stakeholders and our clients. We then reflect on the implications for the evaluation, social policy and for First Nations business sectors.
{"title":"A Culturally Adaptive Approach to First Nations evaluation consulting","authors":"C. Street, Belinda Kendall, Tina McGhie, Lauren O’Flaherty, Darren Schaeffer","doi":"10.1177/1035719X221139858","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1035719X221139858","url":null,"abstract":"Cultural safety is of utmost concern across the evaluation world, particularly given the way that evaluation and research have historically been implicated in colonising practices of the West. This article aims to examine the meaning of cultural safety in the context of an Aboriginal majority-owned consulting organisation that provides evaluation services to organisations where First Nations governance systems and processes may be unknown. This is a critically reflexive article that considers how the dual aims of contributing to self-determination and building First Nations business capacity may be managed in such evaluation projects. We apply Duke et al.’s Culturally Adaptive Governance Framework to our own evaluation work in striving for evaluations to be experienced as culturally safe by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stakeholders and for evaluation outcomes to be relevant and useful from the perspective of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stakeholders and our clients. We then reflect on the implications for the evaluation, social policy and for First Nations business sectors.","PeriodicalId":37231,"journal":{"name":"Evaluation Journal of Australasia","volume":"23 1","pages":"6 - 22"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44621656","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-04DOI: 10.1177/1035719X221120292
Carol Quadrelli, Jessica Staheli, Clarissa Cook-Watkins, Lyn Alderman
This article explores the current evaluation education program opportunities in the Australian higher education market and identifies potential research areas to inform pathways for future investment. Findings from our initial scoping phase are provided as a prelude to future work required in this space. The overarching research question investigates whether there is an opportunity to deliver further evaluation education programs in Australian higher education. Emerging from this question are three objectives: (a) to determine the current landscape of Australian university evaluation education program offerings; (b) to gain an understanding of the evaluation education discourse articulated within six selected evaluation journals and (c) to consider whether evaluation is a viable and meaningful discipline within higher education programs. An action research approach was adopted commencing with a benchmarking activity of Australian university offerings, followed by a bibliometric analysis of six evaluation journals, and concluding with a rapid scan of the literature. The selected methodologies reveal a potential gap in the higher education market, with the literature identifying inconsistent and mismatched programs while emphasising the need to invest in evaluation education. This article seeks to stimulate debate about formal higher education qualifications in evaluation and highlights the importance of potential future curriculum structure that can offer evaluators value, utility and growth.
{"title":"Scoping recent investment in evaluation education in Australian universities","authors":"Carol Quadrelli, Jessica Staheli, Clarissa Cook-Watkins, Lyn Alderman","doi":"10.1177/1035719X221120292","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1035719X221120292","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores the current evaluation education program opportunities in the Australian higher education market and identifies potential research areas to inform pathways for future investment. Findings from our initial scoping phase are provided as a prelude to future work required in this space. The overarching research question investigates whether there is an opportunity to deliver further evaluation education programs in Australian higher education. Emerging from this question are three objectives: (a) to determine the current landscape of Australian university evaluation education program offerings; (b) to gain an understanding of the evaluation education discourse articulated within six selected evaluation journals and (c) to consider whether evaluation is a viable and meaningful discipline within higher education programs. An action research approach was adopted commencing with a benchmarking activity of Australian university offerings, followed by a bibliometric analysis of six evaluation journals, and concluding with a rapid scan of the literature. The selected methodologies reveal a potential gap in the higher education market, with the literature identifying inconsistent and mismatched programs while emphasising the need to invest in evaluation education. This article seeks to stimulate debate about formal higher education qualifications in evaluation and highlights the importance of potential future curriculum structure that can offer evaluators value, utility and growth.","PeriodicalId":37231,"journal":{"name":"Evaluation Journal of Australasia","volume":"39 10","pages":"254 - 281"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41249187","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-27DOI: 10.1177/1035719X221120294
Lyn Alderman
This article introduces the Continuous Learning Framework for quality within higher education and other internal evaluation contexts. The framework maps the terrain of this special issue, and consists of four elements: accountability, improvement, performance and investment. The article briefly describes the evolution of the framework including its application to a government reform package, before focussing on its practical application within a specific university context to stimulate widespread organisational change and improve the use of data in academic decision-making. For internal evaluators, the framework offers a structured way to step into strategic decision-making conversations with executives and a structured approach to embed quality or internal evaluation within policy, protocols and practice of governments, organisations, teams and individuals. Moreover, it facilitates capacity building and creates an environment conducive to continuous improvement leading to continuous learning. The framework and its application directly align with Deming’s work from the 1980s.
{"title":"The Continuous Learning Framework: Applying accountability for widespread organisational change","authors":"Lyn Alderman","doi":"10.1177/1035719X221120294","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1035719X221120294","url":null,"abstract":"This article introduces the Continuous Learning Framework for quality within higher education and other internal evaluation contexts. The framework maps the terrain of this special issue, and consists of four elements: accountability, improvement, performance and investment. The article briefly describes the evolution of the framework including its application to a government reform package, before focussing on its practical application within a specific university context to stimulate widespread organisational change and improve the use of data in academic decision-making. For internal evaluators, the framework offers a structured way to step into strategic decision-making conversations with executives and a structured approach to embed quality or internal evaluation within policy, protocols and practice of governments, organisations, teams and individuals. Moreover, it facilitates capacity building and creates an environment conducive to continuous improvement leading to continuous learning. The framework and its application directly align with Deming’s work from the 1980s.","PeriodicalId":37231,"journal":{"name":"Evaluation Journal of Australasia","volume":"22 1","pages":"206 - 220"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47658033","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-27DOI: 10.1177/1035719X221120293
B. Harris, Lyn Alderman
Australian higher education continues to be plagued with decreases in funding and increases in regulation. This is leading to a reality within many universities where quality alone is not enough to consider academic programs viable and sustainable. Today, universities compete fiercely for students, as increasing or retaining market share is required to remain financially sound. Universities usually make these difficult decisions through an analysis of internal student data as a metric of performance. Factors such as declining student enrolments, high attrition rates, low progression rates and poor student feedback would typically strike university executives as alarming; however, this is often not the full picture. This process can often become political and not grounded in evidence-based informed decision-making, as strategic decision-making to reduce academic programs may have direct impact on academic employment. Moreover, these analyses often lack independent evaluation and consideration of the broader environment. This can lead to tensions between faculty and university administration, which may lead to political outcomes guided by passionate academic debate rather than strategic evidence-based decision-making. This theoretical article outlines how an internal evaluation team can contribute to this exercise to stretch evaluative thinking by applying a range of strategic decision-making tools to evaluate academic program performance.
{"title":"Performance through the lens of evaluation: How to stretch evaluative thinking with strategic decision-making tools","authors":"B. Harris, Lyn Alderman","doi":"10.1177/1035719X221120293","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1035719X221120293","url":null,"abstract":"Australian higher education continues to be plagued with decreases in funding and increases in regulation. This is leading to a reality within many universities where quality alone is not enough to consider academic programs viable and sustainable. Today, universities compete fiercely for students, as increasing or retaining market share is required to remain financially sound. Universities usually make these difficult decisions through an analysis of internal student data as a metric of performance. Factors such as declining student enrolments, high attrition rates, low progression rates and poor student feedback would typically strike university executives as alarming; however, this is often not the full picture. This process can often become political and not grounded in evidence-based informed decision-making, as strategic decision-making to reduce academic programs may have direct impact on academic employment. Moreover, these analyses often lack independent evaluation and consideration of the broader environment. This can lead to tensions between faculty and university administration, which may lead to political outcomes guided by passionate academic debate rather than strategic evidence-based decision-making. This theoretical article outlines how an internal evaluation team can contribute to this exercise to stretch evaluative thinking by applying a range of strategic decision-making tools to evaluate academic program performance.","PeriodicalId":37231,"journal":{"name":"Evaluation Journal of Australasia","volume":"22 1","pages":"237 - 253"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42815787","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-22DOI: 10.1177/1035719X221121400
Lyn Alderman
As someone with over 40 years employment experience, I stepped into evaluation through a research higher degree pathway and found a home in evaluation when I attended my first Australian Evaluation Association international conference in Perth in 2008 as a student. Due to my prior qualifications, I undertook my postgraduate study within a School of Education. This was challenging for someone studying evaluation, and the Australian Evaluation Society offered the evaluation disciplinary support I was looking for. Since this time, I have been the President, Editor of the Evaluation Journal of Australasia, journal author, journal reviewer, conference presenter and attendee. From my perspective, I had found my evaluation home.
{"title":"Evaluator Perspective","authors":"Lyn Alderman","doi":"10.1177/1035719X221121400","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1035719X221121400","url":null,"abstract":"As someone with over 40 years employment experience, I stepped into evaluation through a research higher degree pathway and found a home in evaluation when I attended my first Australian Evaluation Association international conference in Perth in 2008 as a student. Due to my prior qualifications, I undertook my postgraduate study within a School of Education. This was challenging for someone studying evaluation, and the Australian Evaluation Society offered the evaluation disciplinary support I was looking for. Since this time, I have been the President, Editor of the Evaluation Journal of Australasia, journal author, journal reviewer, conference presenter and attendee. From my perspective, I had found my evaluation home.","PeriodicalId":37231,"journal":{"name":"Evaluation Journal of Australasia","volume":"22 1","pages":"282 - 284"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48158888","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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