DYNAMIC EVALUATION: THE SYSTEMS APPROACH TO ACTION-RESEARCH.
Abstract
The evaluation problem accompanies the implementation and conduct of large-scale, complex and diffuse community action and intervention programs typified by the 'War on Proverty' programs of the Office of Economic Opportunity. Dynamic evaluation is an effort to place Action-Research in the theoretical framework of systems science and, thereby, provide it with logical justification, and effective set of tools and procedures, and an organization for the collection, analysis and feedback of relevant data and findings. In use, the systems approach in dynamic evaluation approaches social action programs as action systems and regards information as a necessary concomitant to effective action system functioning. The kind of information required, together with its sources, uses and flow, are defined by the system itself, which presupposes careful definition and analysis of that system and its components. The dynamic evaluation approach, in short, endeavors to comprehend the total action system, not as a static 'point-in-time' event, but rather as a continuous and changing process in which direction and control of the change are central. Systematic use of the process, through dynamic evaluation, may be expected to lead to greater theoretical relevance and sophistication in problem-solving design and to more efficient and effective action in practice. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 10, 1966
- Accession Number
- AD0640646
Entities
People
- Alfred P. Parsell
Organizations
- System Development Corporation