Evaluation and trust

N. Norris, S. Kushner

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper is part of an edited collection on evaluation and the new public management commissioned by Elsevier in their Advances in Program Evaluation series. The paper discusses trust and evaluation. It considers the nature of trust and the ways in which it has been undermined by the accountability relationships characteristic of the new public management. The paper argues that as evaluation has become institutionalised it invites strategic action that can deceive and distort organisational goals. The paper concludes by exploring the social foundations of evaluation and the importance of reciprocity, respect and trust to effective evaluation. Although trust is of considerable importance to the practice of evaluation, it has received very little attention in the literature on educational evaluation or the wider literature on programme and policy evaluation. This is the first systematic treatment of trust in the context of evaluation. It is a contribution to evaluation theory.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationDilemmas of Engagement: Evaluation and the New Public Management
EditorsS. Kushner, N. Norris
PublisherElsevier
Pages139-153
Number of pages15
ISBN (Print)9780762313426
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2007

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