Foreword: On ‘values’

Published date01 December 2019
Date01 December 2019
DOI10.1177/1035719X19895150
AuthorLiz Gould
Subject MatterEditorial
/tmp/tmp-173bg8ozhE0zW4/input 895150EVJ0010.1177/1035719X19895150Evaluation Journal of Australasia X(X)Gould
editorial2019
Editorial
Evaluation Journal of Australasia
2019, Vol. 19(4) 157 –158
Foreword: On ‘values’
© The Author(s) 2019
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
https://doi.org/10.1177/1035719X19895150
DOI: 10.1177/1035719X19895150
journals.sagepub.com/home/evj
Liz Gould
Writing in 2001 in the American Journal of Evaluation, Ernest House suggested a key
piece of ‘unfinished business’ in evaluation should be reconfigured – the fact/value
dichotomy (House, 2001). This special issue of the Evaluation Journal of Australasia
revisits aspects of this ‘unfinished business’, centring on this and other matters of
‘values’ further investigated by various theorists (Gates, 2018; Hall et al., 2012; Henry,
2002; House & Howe, 1999; Renger & Bourdeau, 2004). Authors in this special issue
tackle difficult and intricate philosophical challenges relating to ‘valuing’ and ‘values’
in evaluation, as well as implications for practising evaluators.
This issue does not lay out a singular definition of ‘values’ in evaluation. As others
have noted, the concept of values has been explored in various disciplines – economics,
philosophy, psychology, sociology and biology – ranging from concepts of ‘value’ as a
product that is exchanged (e.g., for money); as functional or having utility; as culturally
defined; deriving from scarcity or competition; an aesthetic which is relative or subjec-
tive; deriving from ethical choices; and so on. Indeed, there may be some utility in
aspects of these approaches for evaluators, as posited by authors in this issue. So why
does reflecting on ‘values’ matter for evaluators? How might we understand ‘values’ in
appraising aspects of health, education or other social programmes, for example? And
how might we understand ‘values’ in subjective concepts such as ‘wellbeing’?
The significance of values to practitioners is a key area of...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT