Reflections on "Value" within E-valuation: A Book Talk by Authors Thomas Schwandt and Emily Gates

Reflections on "Value" within E-valuation

A Book Talk by Authors Thomas Schwandt and Emily Gates

Hosted by the Atlanta-area Evaluation Association (AaEA) and the Greater Boston Evaluation Network (GBEN) 

When we train as researchers and evaluators, we learn ways to gather, analyze, and report data with little discussion of how values influence these processes. Many of us become almost value-averse as we see our primary role and responsibility as generating evidence to inform policy and practice. In this talk, the authors will reflect on ways values and valuing occur within applied research and evaluation. They will share stances researchers and evaluators can take in relation to values and invite attendees to consider their preferred stance and what this means within the context of their workplace. 

About the authors: 
Thomas Schwandt, professor emeritus at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and author of Evaluation Foundations Revisited, has written about the normative aspects of evaluation and research for over four decades. Emily Gates, assistant professor at Boston College and former Atlanta-area evaluation fellow at CDC, examines applications of systems thinking and systems science for evaluation (see recent special issue) as well as intersections of systems- and equity-oriented approaches. 

The authors will provide a code for a discount for orders directly from Guilford:  https://www.guilford.com/books/Evaluating-and-Valuing-in-Social-Research/Schwandt-Gates/9781462547326

About the book: 

Much applied research takes place as if complex social problems—and evaluations of interventions to address them—can be dealt with in a purely technical way. In contrast, this groundbreaking book offers an alternative approach that incorporates sustained, systematic reflection about researchers' values, what values research promotes, how decisions about what to value are made and by whom, and how judging the value of social interventions takes place. The authors offer practical and conceptual guidance to help researchers engage meaningfully with value conflicts and refine their capacity to engage in deliberative argumentation. Pedagogical features include a detailed evaluation case, “Bridge to Practice” exercises and annotated resources in most chapters, and an end-of-book glossary.

Registration deadline: November 17

Zoom information will be emailed to registrants on November 17