Jill Chouinard
University of Victoria, Public Administration, Faculty Member
Research Interests:
The inclusion of stakeholders in participatory evaluation in highly diverse, culturally complex settings remains a challenge, given issues of inequity, power, voice, capacity and skill. These challenges are well documented, but there is a... more
The inclusion of stakeholders in participatory evaluation in highly diverse, culturally complex settings remains a challenge, given issues of inequity, power, voice, capacity and skill. These challenges are well documented, but there is a relative absence of papers devoted to addressing them based on examples and evidence. In this paper, we report our review of 51 empirical studies of participatory evaluations conducted in the international domain, focusing on the methods of inclusion used in the evaluations. Our findings address "the who" (which stakeholders are included and which excluded), "the why" (rationales for participation) and "the how" (by what means and in what manner) of inclusion. We were struck by the scale of some development programs, geographically and in terms of the number of diverse program sponsors and stakeholders, and how this necessitated highly creative, innovative participatory techniques to ensure that anyone (and in some cas...
Research Interests:
In participatory or collaborative evaluation practice, context is considered a complex, relational and social phenomenon that frames the parameters of the inquiry process in profound ways. To help us expand upon our understanding of... more
In participatory or collaborative evaluation practice, context is considered a complex, relational and social phenomenon that frames the parameters of the inquiry process in profound ways. To help us expand upon our understanding of context, we borrow the concept of ‘‘space’’ from the critical geographers, as it provides a bridge between the social and geographic complexities of context, enabling us to more fully capture the social and relational dynamic that fundamentally defines participatory evaluation. Our focus is on understanding context and relationships as two interconnected, dynamic and constituent parts of evaluation practices that feature participatory spaces. We then turn to a comparative analysis of participatory practice across two published reviews of distinct sets of empirical studies as a way to extend our understanding of participatory evaluation in relation to its practical, and frequently complex, contextual expressions in the field. This comparative analysis enables us to develop a set of five dimensions (epistemic, temporal/historical, cultural, economic/organizational, political) that we believe captures the spatial and contextual characteristics and contours of participatory practice.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
... and Analysis After identifying the 52 articles, we read each closely to ascertain program and population context, focus, approach, theoretical orientation ... Our analysis was further guided by our conception of evaluation as a... more
... and Analysis After identifying the 52 articles, we read each closely to ascertain program and population context, focus, approach, theoretical orientation ... Our analysis was further guided by our conception of evaluation as a relational endeavor, as well as an ecologically situated ...