Participatory Evaluation Up Close

Empiricism provides the backbone of knowledge creation within social science disciplines (e.g., psychology,sociology) and applied domains of study (e.g., education, administration) alike. Yet, relative to such domainsof inquiry, comparatively little empirical research on evaluation has occurred, and the research knowledge basebeen infrequently synthesized and integrated to influence theory and practice. The proposed book aims to fillthis void with regard to participatory evaluation, a set of collaborative approaches to evaluation that isreceiving considerable attention of late, including a growing body of empirical studies.The authors begin in Part 1 with the delineation of a widely known and familiar conceptual framework forparticipatory evaluation. They then use the framework in Part 2 as a guide to conducting an extensive review of the extant empirical knowledge base inparticipatory evaluation, culminating in a thematic analysis of what we know about the approach. In Part 3 the authors focus on methodologicalconsiderations of doing research on participatory evaluation through a critique of existing studies and an explication of design choices drawn fromtheir own research program. The book concludes in Part 4 with implications for moving the field forward in terms of important research questions,methodological direction and evaluation practice.This book will be of central interest to evaluation theorists and to those who choose to conduct research on evaluation; appeal will be conceptual andmethodological. It will provide excellent supplementary reading for graduate students, many of whom seek to develop empirical studies on evaluationas part of their graduate programs. Rife with examples of participatory evaluation in practice, and practical implications, the book will also benefitevaluation practitioners with an interest in evaluation capacity building and participatory and collaborative approaches to practice.