Transformative Paradigm

The transformative paradigm represents a worldview, and its accompanying philosophical assumptions, that emerged from the writings of scholars from diverse ethnic and racial groups, people with disabilities, and feminists. Evaluators work in contested territory that is laden with pluralistic values and associated with real-life implications for resource allocation. These characteristics of the evaluation landscape not only differentiate it from traditional social science research but also logically connect it with the work of transformative scholars. The transformative paradigm's basic beliefs are that knowledge is not neutral: It is influenced by human interests, and all knowledge reflects power and social relationships within society. The transformative paradigm is characterized as placing central importance on the lives and experiences of marginalized groups such as women, ethnic and racial minorities, members of the gay and lesbian communities, people with disabilities, and those who are poor. Transformative scholars have as their central mission the accurate and credible representation of marginalized groups in and through the process of systematic inquiry toward the goal of bringing society to a point of greater equity and justice.

The transformative paradigm's underlying assumptions are illuminated by answering ontological, epistemological, and methodological questions. The ontological question is, “What is the nature of reality?” The transformative ontological assumption holds that there are diversities of viewpoints with regard to many social realities but that those viewpoints need to be placed within political, cultural, historical, and economic value systems to understand the basis for the differences. Evaluators need to struggle with revealing those multiple constructions, as well as with making decisions about privileging one perspective over another.

The epistemological question is, “What is the nature of knowledge and the relationship between the knower and the would-be known?” Epistemologically, the transformative assumption is that knowledge is created by a depth of understanding that can be achieved only through sustained and meaningful involvement with the community affected by the service, program, or policy. This level of involvement reflects the valuing of objectivity as much as a balanced and complete view of the program processes and effects is possible, such that bias is not interjected because of a lack of understanding of key viewpoints. This epistemological assumption underscores the importance of an interactive link between the researcher and the participants, with sensitivity given [Page 423]to the impact of social and historical factors in the relationship between the researcher and the participants, as well as the impact of those variables on the construction of knowledge.

The methodological question asks, “How can the knower go about obtaining the desired knowledge and understanding?” The transformative paradigm might involve quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods, but the community affected by the research would be involved to some degree in the methodological and programmatic decisions. The research is conducted with the involvement of all relevant communities, especially the least advantaged. The research conclusions are based in data, but these data are generated from an inclusive list of persons affected by the research, with special efforts to include those who have been traditionally underrepresented.

...