As a person who ascertains the value of evaluation with reference to its pragmatic import of a project in planning or completed to any given extent, I am happy to see your identification of the current debate as reductive.
Of course, this mode of thought seems to be so deep rooted in almost every field, and what has been done so far to rid ourselves of this incubus appears to be to invent a new phrase to describe it, viz., ‘thinking in silos’. Its extension into evaluation results in the inevitable quality vs. quantitative discussion.
I think it would be fruitful to think of evaluation as an effort to determine the adequacy of an objective to be attained or achieved by a project. This adequacy naturally depends on a number of variables one has to take into consideration which in turn vary with the circumstances. Let me give a few examples:
Adequacy of food supplies to a disaster area cannot be measured with respect to the need for a varied and a balanced diet for the target group.
Adequacy of an education programme has to be determined with reference to its utility to those who are supposed to benefit from it. Here, one would often hear about the necessity of having a population possessing literacy and numeracy while what it may do with those useful attributes always remain unclear.
To sum up then, evaluation may some day, would be concerned with adequacy of a result with respect to its quality and quantity optimally achievable under an existing set of circumstances.
RE: How are mixed methods used in programme evaluation?
Greetings to Emilia and other members!
As a person who ascertains the value of evaluation with reference to its pragmatic import of a project in planning or completed to any given extent, I am happy to see your identification of the current debate as reductive.
Of course, this mode of thought seems to be so deep rooted in almost every field, and what has been done so far to rid ourselves of this incubus appears to be to invent a new phrase to describe it, viz., ‘thinking in silos’. Its extension into evaluation results in the inevitable quality vs. quantitative discussion.
I think it would be fruitful to think of evaluation as an effort to determine the adequacy of an objective to be attained or achieved by a project. This adequacy naturally depends on a number of variables one has to take into consideration which in turn vary with the circumstances. Let me give a few examples:
To sum up then, evaluation may some day, would be concerned with adequacy of a result with respect to its quality and quantity optimally achievable under an existing set of circumstances.
Best wishes!
Lal.