Interfacing theories of program with theories of evaluation for advancing evaluation practice: Reductionism, systems thinking, and pragmatic synthesis

Huey T. Chen

Evaluation and Program Planning, 2016, vol. 59, issue C, 109-118

Abstract: Theories of program and theories of evaluation form the foundation of program evaluation theories. Theories of program reflect assumptions on how to conceptualize an intervention program for evaluation purposes, while theories of evaluation reflect assumptions on how to design useful evaluation. These two types of theories are related, but often discussed separately. This paper attempts to use three theoretical perspectives (reductionism, systems thinking, and pragmatic synthesis) to interface them and discuss the implications for evaluation practice. Reductionism proposes that an intervention program can be broken into crucial components for rigorous analyses; systems thinking view an intervention program as dynamic and complex, requiring a holistic examination. In spite of their contributions, reductionism and systems thinking represent the extreme ends of a theoretical spectrum; many real-world programs, however, may fall in the middle. Pragmatic synthesis is being developed to serve these moderate- complexity programs. These three theoretical perspectives have their own strengths and challenges. Knowledge on these three perspectives and their evaluation implications can provide a better guide for designing fruitful evaluations, improving the quality of evaluation practice, informing potential areas for developing cutting-edge evaluation approaches, and contributing to advancing program evaluation toward a mature applied science.

Keywords: Theories of program; Theories of evaluation; Evaluation practice; Reductionism; Systems thinking; Pragmatic synthesis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149718916301008
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:epplan:v:59:y:2016:i:c:p:109-118

DOI: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2016.05.012

Access Statistics for this article

Evaluation and Program Planning is currently edited by Jonathan A. Morell

More articles in Evaluation and Program Planning from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().