ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the nature of evaluation and evaluation research. In most cases the approach to evaluation research is reasonably straightforward. Effective evaluation research should be able to demonstrate in a valid and reliable manner if a given outcome is affected by a given intervention. With formative evaluation, evaluators collect information about a programme in order to help bring about improvement. Summative evaluation is often used to determine how effective a programme is achieving its objectives. External evaluation takes place when central control and guidance for the evaluation exercise comes from people outside the organisation. Traditionally realism drew upon a quasi-experimental form of empirical evaluation. Sayers conception of critical realism rejects a correspondence theory of truth on the ground that simple correspondence does not do justice to the complexity of the relationship between practical knowledge and actions in the world.
