ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how strategies for conducting theory-driven evaluations can be employed within the context of conferencing. A collaborative effort to develop a theory-based approach to the evaluation of conferencing is sensitive to the distinctive aspects of family group conferencing, while also acknowledging important similarities with all sound evaluation processes. Both practitioners and researchers are in need of "maps" to help them locate the various components of a conferencing process and diagram the relationships that link them together. Because they logically advance from one hypothesis to another in chain-link fashion, such maps can be expressed as "logic models". Additionally, the multipronged objectives of conferencing initiatives demand taking the interests of multiple stakeholders into account. An intervention theory is essentially a simple statement about why stakeholders believe a service or activity should lead to a positive change in current conditions, or in the situation or behavior of specific clients.
