Perspectives in the classification of evaluation studies

The various types of evaluation can be looked at from two perspectives:

• the focus of the evaluation;
• the philosophical base that underpins an evaluation.

It is important to remember that these perspectives are not mutually exclusive. All evaluations categorised from the viewpoint of focus of evaluation have a philosophical base underpinning them, and so can be classified from within this perspective as well.

For example, an impact/outcome evaluation from the focus-of-evaluation point of view can also be classified as a goal-centred evaluation from the philosophical perspective. In an outcome evaluation (classified from the focus-of-evaluation perspective), you can either explore the way an intervention has impacted on the study population, or seek to determine outcomes by establishing
whether or not the programme has achieved its intended objective. If the evaluation is from the focus perspective, it is classified as an impact/outcome evaluation, and if the focus is from the philosophical perspective, it is also classified as a goal-centred evaluation. Again, if you determine the impact of a programme/intervention by asking what clients/consumers perceive its effects to have been on them, this is also classified as a client-centred evaluation from a philosophical perspective. If you examine every aspect of a programme with regard to its outcome, process and any other aspect, this is categorised as a holistic evaluation. Finally, every type of evaluation, process or outcome can be classified as an improvement-oriented evaluation from the philosophical perspective as the ultimate aim of any evaluation is to improve an intervention/programme. To avoid confusion between the two perspectives, an integrated picture is provided in Figure 18.3.

Source: Kumar Ranjit (2012), Research methodology: a step-by-step guide for beginners, SAGE Publications Ltd; Third edition.