Toward a theoretical model of evaluation utilization

Implicit evaluation utilization process-models were constructed from evaluation theorists, ideas, and explicit evaluation utilization process-models (i.e. already developed models) were located in the literature. The meta-moder (i.e, a model developed from other models) was developed from the implicit and explicit process-models and from important ideas reported in recent research on evaluation use (e.g. participation, organizational development and complexity). The model depicts evaluation use as occurring in an internal environment situated in an external environment. The three sets of variables in the theoretical model are the background variables, the interactional or social psychological variables and the evaluation use variables. It is contended that evaluation-for-use will result in longer term effects when ideas from complexity theory, organizational learning and organizational design are employed. The meta-model reported here should be viewed as a theoretical model, offered in an attempt to promote theory development in the evaluation utilization literature. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.