ABSTRACT
Differences in approaches to evaluation have been prevalent in the literature since social cost-benefit methods fell from favor in many circles in the early 1970s. Such differences are especially evident when the US AID approach is compared with the approaches of many organizations in the growing private voluntary community.
This paper argues that differing approaches to evaluation often reflect basic disagreements in alternative world and life views. To support this claim, it examines the world and life view and associated notion of the good embedded in the US AID approach (as evidenced in AID’s current evaluation program) and compares this approach both with a “humanist” alternative and with the approach of Church World Service, an influential Christian private voluntary organization.
