I have heeded the recommendations of Professor Balk and some fellow students. I therefore tried to challenge myself with more descriptive words and attention was given to proofreading my final draft.
In planning and conducting an evaluation, one should anticipate different interest groups that may have their own political interests or agenda. Hence this essay will discuss the main points of part four of Patton’s Utilization-focused evaluation. To begin with, politics does have a tremendous impact on evaluation outcome. Evaluators should never be scared or be ready to back down when faced with difficult situations. Furthermore, evaluators should see the political anticipation as added incentive to work harder for credible and useful data.
Also, evaluators should involve intended users to …show more content…
So, what role do politics play in the planning of evaluation? Patton opened chapter 14 with a very interesting case in which he illustrated what can happen when certain parties flaunt their power in an evaluation to further their own political purposes. No one can dispute the fact that power, politics, and ethics sit closely together at the evaluation table, but at what level will evaluators and those involved in the program process allowed these three neighbors to muddy the waters of evaluations?
Ernie House described how “political considerations, power dynamics and money corrupt evaluation and perhaps democracy.” (Patton, 2009, p. 526). Using the example of September 11 terrorist attacks, he wrote that the Bush administration used the occasion to exercise a “blend of religious fundamentalism in foreign and domestic policy, even in evaluation” (House, 2006, p. 120). Whether you agreed with the invasion of Iraq or not Ernie House wrote that evidence showed that the Bush regime manipulated, changed or omitted data from the report (House, 2006, p.
In planning and conducting an evaluation, one should anticipate different interest groups that may have their own political interests or agenda. Hence this essay will discuss the main points of part four of Patton’s Utilization-focused evaluation. To begin with, politics does have a tremendous impact on evaluation outcome. Evaluators should never be scared or be ready to back down when faced with difficult situations. Furthermore, evaluators should see the political anticipation as added incentive to work harder for credible and useful data.
Also, evaluators should involve intended users to …show more content…
So, what role do politics play in the planning of evaluation? Patton opened chapter 14 with a very interesting case in which he illustrated what can happen when certain parties flaunt their power in an evaluation to further their own political purposes. No one can dispute the fact that power, politics, and ethics sit closely together at the evaluation table, but at what level will evaluators and those involved in the program process allowed these three neighbors to muddy the waters of evaluations?
Ernie House described how “political considerations, power dynamics and money corrupt evaluation and perhaps democracy.” (Patton, 2009, p. 526). Using the example of September 11 terrorist attacks, he wrote that the Bush administration used the occasion to exercise a “blend of religious fundamentalism in foreign and domestic policy, even in evaluation” (House, 2006, p. 120). Whether you agreed with the invasion of Iraq or not Ernie House wrote that evidence showed that the Bush regime manipulated, changed or omitted data from the report (House, 2006, p.