Promoting Value in the Public Interest

EDITOR'S NOTES 1 George Julnes 1. Managing Valuation 3 George Julnes This chapter introduces challenges in valuing, identifiesvariations in current practice, and lays the groundwork formanaging the use of context-appropriate valuing methodologies. 2. The Logic of Valuing 17 Michael Scriven The author distinguishes between the logic of valuing and thelogic of evaluation, and explicates the details of the logic ofvaluing. 3. The Evaluator's Role in Valuing: Who and With Whom29 Marvin C. Alkin, Anne T. Vo, Christina A. Christie The authors consider the multiple theoretic perspectives thatgovern an evaluator's behavior and present a typology of evaluatorvaluing roles. 4. Step Arounds for Common Pitfalls When Valuing ResourcesUsed Versus Resources Produced 43 Brian T. Yates This chapter describes how the value of a program can beunderstood not only as outcomes, but also how those outcomescompare to the types and amounts of resources expended to producethe outcomes. 5. The Role of Context in Valuing Federal Programs53 Stephanie Shipman The author draws upon her experience at the U.S. GovernmentAccountability Office (GAO), and provides insight into issuesinvolved in deciding how to evaluate a federal program orpolicy. 6. When One Must Go: The Canadian Experience With StrategicReview and Judging Program Value 65 François Dumaine This chapter reviews the Canadian experiment with assessing theworth of public programs and policies and using the resulting valuejudgments to drive funding decisions. 7. Valuing, Evaluation Methods, and the Politicization of theEvaluation Process 77 Eleanor Chelimsky The author develops the idea that what we are talking aboutwhen we talk about valuing is methodology. 8. Valuation and the American Evaluation Association: Helping100 Flowers Bloom, or at Least Be Understood? 85 Michael Morris This chapter uses the American Evaluation Association as anexample, explores challenges encountered when organizations tacklepublicsector valuation, and offers tentative recommendations foraddressing those challenges. 9. Evaluators in a World of Valuators 91 George F. Grob The author describes the work of evaluators in policy andprogram contexts in which everyone must make value judgments. 10. Contextual Pragmatics of Valuing 97 Michael Quinn Patton This chapter highlights how the issue authors emphasizecontextual sensitivity and adaptability in the valuing process. 11. Developing Policies to Support Valuing in the PublicInterest 109 George Julnes This chapter develops a pragmatic framework that organizesmultiple paradigms of valuing with implications for policies forguiding contextappropriate method choice for valuing in the publicinterest. INDEX 131