Evaluation, Its Heritage and Its Future

Abstract

Evaluation is all over the place. All of us would probably have some difficulty imagining a society in which evaluation is not conducted, everywhere from school to parliamentary committees. Sometimes we can hear complaints that there are too many rankings and forms and we have also seen, in recent years, studies analyzing negative side effects of different performance measurement systems. However, on a more fundamental level, evaluation is sheltered from criticism.

Evaluation transports modernity. In the understanding of many people — including that of the evaluator herself — the evaluator is often a torchbearer for modernity. With the help of modern reason (methods, data, processes), the evaluator can help sweep away ignorance, prejudice, traditions and inefficient practices.

(Dahler-Larsen 2012, p. 5)