Category Archives: Evaluation Quality
Evaluator, Watch Your Language
As I was reading a number of evaluation reports recently, the oddity of evaluation jargon struck me. It isn’t that we have unusual technical terms—all fields do—but that we use everyday words in unusual ways. It is as if we … Continue reading
Filed under Evaluation, Evaluation Quality, Program Evaluation
The AEA Conference (So Far)
The AEA conference has been great. I have been very impressed with the presentations that I have attended so far, though I can’t claim to have seen the full breadth of what is on offer as there are roughly 700 … Continue reading
Filed under AEA Conference, Evaluation Quality, Program Evaluation
AEA 2010 Conference Kicks Off in San Antonio
In the opening plenary of the Evaluation 2010 conference, AEA President Leslie Cooksy invited three leaders in the field—Eleanor Chelimsky, Laura Leviton, and Michael Patton– to speak on The Tensions Among Evaluation Perspectives in the Age of Obama: Influences on … Continue reading
Filed under AEA Conference, Evaluation Quality, Gargani News, Program Evaluation
Good versus Eval
After another blogging hiatus, the battle between good and eval continues. Or at least my blog is coming back online as the American Evaluation Association’s Annual Conference in San Antonio (November 10-14) quickly approaches. I remember that twenty years ago evaluation … Continue reading
Filed under Design, Evaluation Quality, Gargani News, Program Design, Program Evaluation
Quality is a Joke
If you have been following my blog (Who hasn’t?), you know that I am writing on the topic of evaluation quality, the theme of the 2010 annual conference of the American Evaluation Association taking place November 10-13. It is a … Continue reading
Filed under Evaluation, Evaluation Quality, Program Evaluation
What the Hell is Quality?
In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, an exasperated Robert Pirsig famously asked, “What the hell is quality?” and expended a great deal of energy trying to work out an answer. As I find myself considering the meaning of … Continue reading
Filed under Evaluation, Evaluation Quality
The Laws of Evaluation Quality
It has been a while since I blogged, but I was inspired to give it another go by Evaluation 2010, the upcoming annual conference of the American Evaluation Association (November 10-13 in San Antonio, Texas). The conference theme is Evaluation … Continue reading
Filed under Evaluation, Evaluation Quality
Running Hot and Cold for Mixed Methods: Jargon, Jongar, and Code
Jargon is the name we give to big labels placed on little ideas. What should we call little labels placed on big ideas? Jongar, of course. A good example of jongar in evaluation is the term mixed methods. I run … Continue reading →
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Filed under Commentary, Evaluation, Evaluation Quality, Program Evaluation, Research
Tagged as abbas tashakkori, code, complexity, evaluation, evaluations, jargon, john creswell, jongar, mixed methods, qualitative and quantitative methods, research, simpicity