Action Evaluation

Defining Characteristics of Action Evaluation

AE facilitates project or programme development by helping participants define and then formatively redefine success, to forge effective action and make success, ideally, akin to a self-fulfilling prophecy. Since the early 1990s, it has been applied by thousands of participants, funders and facilitators in over 200 conflict resolution, community development, organizational-change and other kinds of initiatives in a wide variety of fields. AE gathers and organizes input and ownership by those involved, by assisting them in creating their own criteria for success. Thus, by defining and seeking success in a continuous, integrative way, AE is simultaneously a programme development and an evaluation tool. It has much in common with other evaluation approaches such as utilization-focused evaluation, empowerment evaluation, theory-driven evaluation and evaluative inquiry. However, what makes it unique is its focus on goal inquiry as well as the integration of concepts from identity conflict engagement and Action Science.

AE frames the problem of goal setting involving multiple stakeholders as a process of constructing a shared identity. It builds theoretical frameworks which view conflict as rooted in people's deepest needs, values, purposes and definitions of self. Effective goal setting should be a participative process of double-loop learning that inquires critically into why stakeholders have chosen certain goals and why they feel passionately about them. According to this framing, worthy programme goals should express and put into practice that which all stakeholders truly value and care about.

By deeply inquiring into goals at the outset of a project, AE helps facilitate project development in several ways:

• 1.
  The sharing of core values often creates common ground between various and sometimes opposing stakeholders.
• 2.
  Potential goal conflict is surfaced and dealt with before the project gets under way.
• 3.
  The process is more likely to be based on deep values rather than on fluctuating interests.
• 4.
  Commitment to the process deepens, ensuring that the process is meaningful and increasing its chances of success.

The Action Evaluation Process

The three stages of AE are (1) baseline establishment, (2) formative monitoring and (3) summative evaluation (Table 1).