Developing a systemic program evaluation methodology: A critical systems perspective

Torres-Cuello, Maria Alejandra; Pinzón-Salcedo, Luis; Midgley, Gerald

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increased interest within the program evaluation field for introducing systems thinking concepts. However, most of these attempts have been primarily directed towards supporting the practice of evaluation and not towards making theoretical advancements. This article is focused on introducing systems thinking, and specifically perspectives and concepts from the work in critical systems thinking (CST), at a theoretical level in the program evaluation field, towards a reframing of the Fourth Generation Evaluation methodology. The process for carrying out such reframing is introduced, as well as describing the major changes produced in the evaluation methodology by incorporating the CST perspective. A new model is proposed, and how this model may be beneficial for conducting an evaluation is discussed with recommendations made for future developments.

Citation

Torres-Cuello, M. A., Pinzón-Salcedo, L., & Midgley, G. (2018). Developing a systemic program evaluation methodology: A critical systems perspective. Systems research and behavioral science, 35(5), 538-547. https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.2561

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 29, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Oct 22, 2018
• Publication Date: Oct 22, 2018
• Deposit Date: Nov 7, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 23, 2020
• Journal: Systems Research and Behavioral Science
• Print ISSN: 1092-7026
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 35
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 538-547
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.2561
• Keywords: Systems thinking; Program evaluation; Boundary critique; Fourth Generation Evaluation (FGE)
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/1147277
• Publisher URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/sres.2561
• Contract Date: Nov 9, 2018