ABSTRACT
Evaluation use can be thought of as ways in which the findings of an evaluation influence the programs or policies that are the object of investigation, as well as affect the organisation within which this intervention is located. Based on an analysis of policy evaluations in the United States, Weiss encouraged an expansion of the notion of utilisation to include conceptual use, or enlightenment. An external evaluator assisted a federal agency to develop an evaluation resource that was used by each of its seventeen regional offices to undertake a self-review of recent projects. Relevance of evaluation information can be thought of as the degree to which the evaluation was focused on issues relevant to the audience. Research has shown a clear and strong relationship between the quality of communication between decision-makers and evaluators and the use of evaluation findings, particularly during the evaluation process.
