ERIC Number: EJ1452347
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Dec
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1098-2140
EISSN: EISSN-1557-0878
Available Date: N/A
Evaluation Paradoxes: Responding to Tensions between Stability and Change in Social Investment Evaluation
American Journal of Evaluation, v45 n4 p519-535 2024
The relationship between "stability" and "change" is a central paradox of administration that pervades all forms of organizing. Evaluation is not unfamiliar with paradoxical objectives and roles, which can result in tensions for evaluators and stakeholders. In this article, paradoxes between stability and change in the implementation of evaluation, and responses to them, are investigated through the case of social investment funds in Swedish local government. From interviews with staff, managers, and evaluators, findings show how responses to four main paradoxes give priority to top-down summative evaluation that produces instrumental knowledge on outcomes and costs for decision makers. The responses show that the concept of social investment fund evaluation is elastic to contain paradoxes and address different audiences. Also, paradoxes within the structure of the organization develop into paradoxes concerning the roles and goals of evaluation, raising the question of whether individual actors can deal with paradoxes.
Descriptors: Logical Thinking, Philosophy, Evaluation, Social Capital, Reliability, Change, Local Government, School Funds, Evaluators, Administrators, Employees, Decision Making, Costs, Outcomes of Education, Organization, Foreign Countries, Municipalities, Community Problems, Governance, Attitudes, Educational Change
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Sweden
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A