Evaluation Ethics for Best Practice
Cases and Commentaries
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Focusing on ethical challenges in program evaluation, this innovative book features six case-study scenarios that end at a point where the evaluator faces a significant decision about how to proceed. For each case, two distinguished evaluators offer insights on the best course of action to choose, and why. “What If?” boxes modify the details of the scenarios, inviting readers to reflect on whether these changes alter the ethical implications of the case. Six additional cases are presented with questions that guide readers to develop their own ethical analyses. The book is organized to follow the progress of an evaluation, from the entry/contracting phase through the utilization of results.
“A thoughtful, thorough approach. The book is well written, covers very important topics in the area of evaluation and assessment, and uses a creative approach to identify salient ethical issues in evaluation. Each chapter can stand alone, and some or all of them would be a wonderful supplement to a text for a course on evaluation.”
—John H. Schuh, Distinguished Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Iowa State University
“I really like the author's approach. Probably the most powerful aspect is the concrete, real-life scenarios that bring the subject matter to life. I can't say enough about how much is to be gained from this approach. I think the scenario exercises are a real stroke of genius, in that they allow the student to anticipate and to think ahead about what to do.”
—Geni Cowan, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, California State University, Sacramento
“This book is a great introduction to ethical dilemmas faced not only by evaluators, but also by their client organizations. The beauty of it is that it provides an opportunity to work out the different facets of how we do our work. Beyond the nuts and bolts of what to do, this book makes us think about how we do it. It encourages us to think it through and make decisions that support the integrity of evaluation.”
—Geni Cowan, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, California State University, Sacramento
“This book is a great way for students to learn the complexities of evaluation ethics in real-world settings! Realistic case studies with responses by different evaluators—both academics and practitioners—illustrate ethical dilemmas that can arise at every stage of the evaluation, and show how even experienced evaluators differ in the approaches and actions they take in each case. Other cases, without responses, give students the opportunity to practice their own skills.”
—Jody L. Fitzpatrick, coauthor of Program Evaluation: Alternative Approaches and Practical Guidelines; Graduate School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado at Denver
“As evaluation practitioners know all too well, evaluation is a highly political activity. As such, it is fraught with ethical dilemmas. Morris and his colleagues are to be congratulated for providing the field with a comprehensive, thought-provoking, highly practical, and very useable book on the topic of evaluation ethics. The book’s organization takes us through the stages of evaluation practice, providing concise and relevant case scenarios that have few simple answers, yet lend critical insights into what one might do in a given situation. Particularly helpful are the guiding and 'What If' questions, which are excellent tools to facilitate conversations with students, colleagues, and evaluation clients. This book should be on every evaluator's bookshelf.”
—Hallie Preskill, School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences, Claremont Graduate University; 2007 President, American Evaluation Association
“Morris has enlisted a seasoned cadre of evaluators to reflect on his evocatively crafted ethical dilemmas. Leaving ponderous prose behind, the contributors write in an engaging, personal style as they weigh alternative courses of action in each scenario. The result is a lively journey through evaluation's ethical landscape that is also a genuinely instructive read.”
—Jennifer Greene, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
“This is an exceptionally thought-provoking book for students and practitioners at all levels. It was an informative, entertaining, and engaging read. I had a hard time putting it down. Students in my introductory program evaluation class reported that the cases in the book brought the AEA's
Guiding Principles to life and helped them better understand the ethical (and other types of) decision making at the heart of evaluation practice. Reflecting on these cases helped these students prepare for effective evaluation practice.”
—Donald B. Yarbrough, Director, Center for Evaluation and Assessment, University of Iowa
“In the spirit of 'Ethical Challenges,' his well-known regular feature in the
American Journal of Evaluation, Morris has assembled an interesting and compelling set of challenge scenarios and responses from leading contributors to the professional knowledge base. This book is a delightful addition to the shelves of evaluation practitioners and students. Morris walks us through ethical challenges and dilemmas associated with all aspects of the process, from planning evaluations to using their results. The thematic round up of cross-cutting issues in the final chapter moves the profession forward in realistic and thoughtful ways. Bravo!”
—J. Bradley Cousins, Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Editor, Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation
Table of Contents
1. Ethics and Evaluation
2. The Entry/Contracting Stage
Scenario 1: The Coordination Project
Commentary: Consumers, Culture, and Validity, Karen E. Kirkhart
Commentary: Whose Evaluation Is It, Anyway?, David M. Chavis
What If...?
Final Thoughts: The Coordination Project
Scenario 2: Just Say No?
Questions to Consider
3. Designing the Evaluation
Scenario 1: The Damp Parade?
Commentary: Everybody Talks about the Weather..., Melvin M. Mark
Commentary: No Rain Today, Gail V. Barrington
What If...?
Final Thoughts: The Damp Parade
Scenario 2: What’s under the Rock?
Questions to Consider
4. Data Collection
Scenario 1: The Folder
Commentary: Hold ’Em or Fold(er) ’Em?: What’s an Evaluator to Do?, Michael Hendricks
Commentary: Centering the Folder, sarita davis
What If…..?
Final Thoughts: The Folder
Scenario 2: Hideout
Questions to Consider
5. Data Analysis and Interpretation
Scenario 1: Knock, Knock, What’s There?
Commentary: What’s There: Confidence or Competence?, Leslie J. Cooksy
Commentary: Interpreting Effects, William R. Shadish
What If...?
Final Thoughts: Knock, Knock, What’s There?
Scenario 2: Things Happen
Questions to Consider
6. Communication of Results
Scenario 1: Mainstream
Commentary: Mainstreaming Process Evaluation: Ethical Issues in Reporting Interim Results, Mary Ann Scheirer
Commentary: Reporting Bad News: Challenges and Opportunities in an Ethical Dilemma, Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar and Lucía Orellana-Damacela
What If...?
Final Thoughts: Mainstream
Scenario 2: Whose Voices?
Questions to Consider
7. Utilization of Results
Scenario 1: Nightly News
Commentary: Fixing the Spin on Evaluation, Laura C. Leviton
Commentary: From Substance Abuse to Evaluation Misuse: Is There a Way Out?, Sharon F. Rallis
What If...?
Final Thoughts: Nightly News
Scenario 2: Is My Job Done Yet?
Questions to Consider
8. Lessons Learned
Appendix A. The Guiding Principles for Evaluators
Appendix B. The Program Evaluation Standards, Second Edition
About the Editor
Michael Morris is Professor of Psychology at the University of New Haven, where he directs the Master's Program in Community Psychology. He served as the first editor of the Ethical Challenges section of the American Journal of Evaluation from 1998 to 2004. His publications have appeared in Evaluation Review, Evaluation and Program Planning, the American Journal of Community Psychology, and the Journal of Community of Psychology, among others. He coedited, with Jody Fitzpatrick, the New Directions for Evaluation volume devoted to "Current and Emerging Ethical Challenges in Evaluation" (1999). Dr. Morris is a member of the Editorial Advisory Boards of New Directions for Evaluation and the American Journal of Evaluation and has served as Chair of the Ethics Committee and the Public Affairs Committee of the American Evaluation Association. His other books include Poverty and Public Policy (with John Williamson) and Myths about the Powerless (with M. Brinton Lykes, Ramsay Liem, and Ali Banuazizi). A trainer in evaluation ethics throughout the United States and abroad, he received his PhD in community-social psychology from Boston College.
Contributors
Gail V. Barrington is a certified management consultant and founder of the Barrington Research Group, Inc.
David M. Chavis is president of the Association for the Study and Development of Community.
Leslie J. Cooksy directs the Tobacco Control Evaluation Center at the University of California, Davis.
sarita davis is associate professor in the Whitney M. Young, Jr. School of Social Work at Clark Atlanta University.
Michael Hendricks is an independent evaluation consultant based in Bethesda, Maryland.
Karen E. Kirkhart is professor in the School of Social Work, College of Human Services and Health Professions, at Syracuse University.
Laura C. Leviton is a senior program officer of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey.
Melvin M. Mark is professor of psychology at The Pennsylvania State University.
Michael Morris is professor of psychology at the University of New Haven, where he directs the Master's Program in Community Psychology.
Lucía Orellana-Damacela received her master's degree from Loyola University, Chicago, and is currently working on her doctoral dissertation.
Sharon F. Rallis is Dwight W. Allen Distinguished Professor of Education Policy and Reform at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where she is also director of the Center for Education Policy.
Mary Ann Scheirer is an independent consultant with her own firm, Scheirer Consulting.
William R. Shadish is professor and founding faculty at the University of California, Merced.
Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar is professor and head of the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she also serves as associate director of the Center for Capacity Building on Minorities with Disabilities Research.
Audience
Students and researchers in education, psychology, social work, sociology, management, and nursing.
Course Use
Serves as a core or supplemental text in advanced undergraduate- and graduate-level courses in evaluation, applied research, and research ethics.