Recommendations for Clients of Evaluations
Introduction
Evaluation is of crucial importance, both internationally and in the German-speaking world. It is established in very diverse fields of application, such as structural policy, education and science, health, development policy, town and regional planning, social services, public administration, industry, the labour
market, technology, and the environment. This requires differentiation of evaluation approaches and methods. Evaluation practice too, however, is developed to different degrees within these fields. The high, and ever-growing, demand for evaluation involves many opportunities, but also risks. These are concerned with the quality of evaluations, the professionalism of evaluators, as well as the framework for evaluation, thus also affecting the clients of evaluations. A central aim of DeGEval – Gesellschaft für Evaluation (Evaluation Society), founded in 1997, is thus to advance the professionalisation of evaluation, as well as to provide all those involved in evaluation or interested in its issues with a framework for a continual exchange of information. To this end, DeGEval has produced a series of publications, including the “Standards for Evaluation”, which set out quality criteria for performing systematic, data-based evaluations.
The recommendations set out by DeGEval here are aimed at the clients of evaluations, primarily at organisations and institutions of public administration such as state and federal departments, regional and local authorities, public corporations, publicly financed institutions, as well as churches and foundations.
The target group comprises people who are responsible for, control, develop or implement measures within their organisation, but who have not yet had much opportunity to get to know the instrument of evaluation and to experience it for themselves. DeGEval would like to encourage this group of people to make use of the instrumentof evaluation and to employ it when it is necessary to give an account of something or to learn from current and previous processes. The recommendations given in this booklet are thus to be seen as an introduction for clients to the field of evaluation.
