Evaluating commodification and commodifying evaluation

Abstract

IMPACT This article highlights the importance of those conducting evaluations, whether policy-makers or evaluators, being explicit about the purpose and use of an evaluation. Evaluation designs will affect the nature of the findings and these, in turn, can feed back into the policy process. The inherent political nature of evaluations highlights the need for the full publication of evaluation results. The public, policy-makers and other stakeholders can then have some degree of confidence in the legitimacy of the findings.