Evaluation Matters—He Take Tō Te Aromatawai 3: 2017

Based on a keynote presentation to The convergence of evaluation and impact measurement, Annual Conference of the Aotearoa New Zealand Evaluation Association.

“Why does everyone seem unhappy about how the evaluation system works? And if we are all unhappy, why can’t we do something about it?” This question came from a conversation with impact measurement and evaluation specialist David Pritchard ...

Keynote opening speech

Kia ora. Although I am standing here at an evaluation conference, about to talk about evaluation, I don’t think of myself solely, and possibly not even primarily, as an evaluator. Let me give you a sense of the journey that led me to being here ...

The role and place of Māori people as the indigenous people of this land has influenced the culturally centred development of evaluation in Aotearoa New Zealand. Within this article the cultural value of whanaungatanga is presented as a source of tension in “By Māori for Māori” externally evaluated health and wellbeing programmes. This article highlights the vulnerable and contentious position that indigenous service providers and external evaluators are placed when they accept… Read more

The interpretation and practice of kaupapa Māori evaluation (KME) take many forms, each involving its own set of considerations, challenges and outcomes.  This paper explores the complexities involved in a collaborative journey through an evaluation project where KME was a guiding principle, highlighting its successes and challenges. The evaluation aimed to benefit Ngāti Porou Hauora, a Māori health provider, and the community it served, by evaluating the effectiveness (as defined by… Read more

Evaluating the outcomes of social-change initiatives is often conceptualised as a long-term endeavour, where the impacts take some years to assess. This is feasible for large-scale, multiyear initiatives, but challenging for relatively small-scale, community-based projects with short-term funding cycles. This article discusses the evaluation techniques developed to work with a range of short-term community projects funded through two national social-change… Read more

Reflective practice is recognised as one of the four core competency domains for evaluators in Aotearoa New Zealand. This paper presents what happens when two theoretical positions or evaluation approaches are juxtaposed to reflect on evaluation practice. Taking a recently completed theory-based, utilisation-focused evaluation of a youth resilience programme piloted nationally, the paper considers how an alternative approach—an educative values-engaged theoretical perspective—might have… Read more

To feel a sense of place is a fundamental human need and in order to understand people’s experiences, it is critical to understand their place. This article reflects on the findings of the author’s
2014 literature review, which focused on the concept of place and its implications for evaluation design. The author promotes a place-conscious approach to evaluation that recognises and honours features of the places where people live their lives.

The advent of innovation as a privileged policy priority—in New Zealand as in the rest of the world—illustrates the power of the single narrative as a covert advocacy tool for the promotion of an ideology. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, a shifting conception of innovation has been used to reinforce the hold of private interests over public policy. This article exposes the artificial simplicity of this mental model through reference to economic theory… Read more