Philosophical Assumptions and Program Evaluation

Abstract

The transdisciplinary nature of evaluation allows its application in diverse contexts, with diverse stakeholder groups, to address diverse social problems, through the use of diverse methodologies. Given these multiple dimensions of diversity, there are also diverse sets of philosophical assumptions that underlie the choices that evaluators make regarding their methodologies. This essay explores the different philosophical framings that are guiding thinking in the evaluation community through the lens of four paradigms: postpositivist, constructivist, pragmatic, and transformative.