Rationality to ritual: The multiple roles of evaluation in governmental processes

The disillusion with social science evaluation can be partly attributed to an overly narrow view of the function of evaluation. In the accepted model, evaluation functions to provide information needed by rational decision-makers for discrete decisions. But evaluations often cannot perform this function. However, evaluation often does serve other functions. In one such function, it acts as a means for managing conflict and promoting social change. It often also stimulates program staff to critically examine their assumptions and behavior. Consideration of these additional functions leads to suggestions for changes in recruitment of evaluators and in the definition of the evaluators' role. Finally, one can view evaluation as a societal ritual whose function is to calm the citizenry and to perpetuate an image of government rationality.The Stanford Evaluation Consortium is supported by a grant from the Russell Sage Foundation. Robert E. Floden is Assistant Professor of Education at Michigan State University. Stephen S. Weiner is Assistant Professor of Education at Stanford University.