ABSTRACT
Ethical dilemmas in evaluation require choices to be made between competing opinions and values. Choices are made about which way to proceed in the evaluation and how the evaluator should behave with respect to the individuals involved in the evaluation. Relying solely on ethical principles included in codes of practice and professional standards are limited because each evaluation exercise is unique and faced with its own set of ethical choices. Ethical dilemmas arise through the demand for transparency, need to manage competing interests and existing power structure, together with the expectation to deliver a useful evaluation that is responsive to the client's needs. Dilemmas surface through the trade-offs that are made when choosing what to evaluate, how to evaluate and who has a say in the decisions. Applying a utilisation-focused evaluation lens to the case study might lead the evaluator to work with the clients of the evaluation to understand their moral standing and design the selection and recruitment process.
