Re-examining the implications of systems thinking for evaluation

Gates, Emily F

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/90530 Copy

Description

Title

Re-examining the implications of systems thinking for evaluation

Author(s)

Gates, Emily F

Issue Date

2016-04-14

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Schwandt, Thomas A.

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Greene, Jennifer C.

Committee Member(s)

• DeStefano, Lizanne
• Reynolds, Martin

Department of Study

Educational Psychology

Discipline

Educational Psychology

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

evaluation, systems thinking, complexity science, critical systems heuristics, values

Abstract

Over the last twenty years, many prominent evaluators have been borrowing and using ideas, theories, and methods from the systems and complexity fields with little research on the implications of this trend for the evaluation field. This thesis examines this borrowing to identify over-arching implications for evaluation theory and practice. The first paper reviews inter-disciplinary literature on systems thinking and complexity science with regards to evaluating social policies and programs and identifies major implications for how evaluators theorize evaluation practice. The second paper reports on an analysis of eight cases of evaluation practice that use systems and complexity ideas and techniques and presents findings regarding how evaluators conceive of and practice evaluation. The third paper advances an argument for how evaluators can use critical systems heuristics to surface, reflect on, and make explicit the values that influence and should influence an evaluation. Collectively, these papers support the potential of borrowing from the systems and complexity fields to expand on and re-define evaluation theory and practice.

Graduation Semester

2016-05

Type of Resource

text

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90530

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2016 Emily Gates

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