Open AccessAction Evaluation in the Theory and Practice of Conflict Resolution
Author(s) -
Marc Howard Ross
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
peace and conflict studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.116
H-Index - 6
ISSN - 1082-7307
DOI - 10.46743/1082-7307/2001.1011
Subject(s) - conflict resolution , action (physics) , intervention (counseling) , management science , theory of change , conflict analysis , resolution (logic) , political science , psychology , engineering ethics , process management , public relations , sociology , computer science , business , engineering , law , physics , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , psychiatry , anthropology
Questions of evaluation are important to conveners, participants and funders of conflict resolution initiatives. Yet good evaluation is tied to a number of complicated questions concerning what constitutes success and failure in projects that may be multi-dimensional or only part of an effort to settle a larger conflict. Rothman has offered Action Evaluation as a methodology that seeks to incorporate goal setting and evaluation into project designs. He argues that this will improve a project by monitoring the changing nature of goals through the life of a conflict resolution intervention, and action evaluation’s self-conscious attention to goal setting offers a mechanism for developing and committing an intervention to specific internal and external standards of evaluation. This article examines Action Evaluation as a theory of practice, considering its conceptual strengths and examining specific issues of its implementation.