Racial/ethnic and gender bias in the courts: A stakeholder-focused evaluation

Abstract

We have presented an example of the application of the stakeholder-focused model of evaluation to a sensitive and complex research project for the Michigan State Court. This example illustrates the process of engaging a client group in an evaluation so that the results of the project are used to improve organizations and services. In this example, the evaluators maintained involvement of the client group throughout the project. This insured that the most important questions were addressed, increased a sense of ownership in the process and products, maintained a high level of interest over the course of a long project (one year), and created an investment in the project as a whole. By involving the client group as consultants throughout the evaluation process, the resulting information was highly specific to the client's needs and, therefore, increased the likelihood that the information would be used.