Premium
Bricolage: A pluralistic approach to evaluating human ecosystem initiatives
Author(s) -
Hargreaves Margaret
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
new directions for evaluation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.374
H-Index - 40
eISSN - 1534-875X
pISSN - 1097-6736
DOI - 10.1002/ev.20460
Subject(s) - bricolage , epistemology , sociology , management science , selection (genetic algorithm) , reflection (computer programming) , conceptual framework , focus (optics) , computer science , value (mathematics) , knowledge management , social science , artificial intelligence , philosophy , engineering , art , physics , literature , optics , machine learning , programming language
This article presents a reflection on the use of bricolage in two case illustrations. An eclectic approach, bricolage can be used as a transdisciplinary, mixed paradigm approach for reconciling the different ontological (“real world”) and epistemological (“theory of knowledge”) perspectives that complexity science and systems thinking bring to evaluation. Bricolage can be used in all four elements of evaluation design: (1) theoretical frameworks, (2) inquiry frameworks, (3) methods and metrics, and (4) values and valuing in evaluation. Bricolage can be applied to the choice of conceptual frameworks that define an evaluand; the selection of research questions or lines of inquiry that focus a study; the choice of data collection and analytic methods; and the implementation of strategies for incorporating and assessing value in evaluation.