The politics of evaluation: Participation and policy implementation

Description

Evaluation has become a central tool in the development of contemporary social policy. Its widespread popularity is based on the need to provide evidence of the effectiveness of policies and programmes. This book sees evaluation as an inherently political activity, as much about forms of governance as scientific practice. Using a wide range of examples from neighbourhood renewal, health and social care and other aspects of social policy, it relates practical issues in evaluation design to their political contexts. With contributions from leading academics and evaluation practitioners, the book considers key issues in the politics of evaluation including: governance and evaluation; participatory evaluation; partnerships and evaluation; and learning from evaluation. It makes a significant and original contribution by: emphasising the political context of evaluation; presenting an original framework for analysing evaluation and suggestions for reflective and critical practice; discussing the relationship between evaluation and evidence; demonstrating the difficulties and opportunities involved in evaluation; relating evaluation to current policies and practice. The politics of evaluation is important reading for academics, social researchers, policy makers, service providers and professionals across the public services as well as professional evaluators. It will be a valuable resource for students on a range of social science and professional courses and those concerned with recent developments in social research methodology.

David Taylor is Head of the School of Applied Social Science at the University of Brighton. He is Editor of the collection Breaking down barriers: Reviewing partnership practice (HSPRC, 2001) and is a member of the Editorial Collective of the journal Critical Social Policy. Susan Balloch is Professor of Health and Social Care and Director of the Health and Social Policy Research Centre at the University of Brighton. She is co-author of Social services: Working under pressure (1999) and Partnership working: Policy and practice (2001), also published by The Policy Press.

"This is an exciting book that raises critical questions about politics and power in evaluation research." Janet Newman, Faculty of Social Sciences, The Open University