Building a community-based culture of evaluation

• Published in: Evaluation and program planning 2017-12, Vol.65, p.163-170
• Main Authors: Janzen, Rich, Ochocka, Joanna, Turner, Leanne, Cook, Tabitha, Franklin, Michelle, Deichert, Debbie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Capacity Building; Capacity building approach; Community; Community organizations; Community Relations; Community research; Community-based research; Construction Programs; Culture; Epilepsy; Evaluation capacity building; Evaluators; Knowledge; Program evaluation; Research Methodology
• ISSN: 0149-7189; 1873-7870
• DOI: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2017.08.014

•Community-based research is a useful approach for evaluation capacity building.•Community-based research stresses community-determination, participation and action.•Stakeholder leadership in the evaluation enhances a culture of evaluation.•Engaging practical and experiential knowledge enhances a culture of evaluation.•Facilitating reflective practice enhances a culture of evaluation. In this article we argue for a community-based approach as a means of promoting a culture of evaluation. We do this by linking two bodies of knowledge – the 70-year theoretical tradition of community-based research and the trans-discipline of program evaluation – that are seldom intersected within the evaluation capacity building literature. We use the three hallmarks of a community-based research approach (community-determined; equitable participation; action and change) as a conceptual lens to reflect on a case example of an evaluation capacity building program led by the Ontario Brian Institute. This program involved two community-based groups (Epilepsy Southwestern Ontarioand the South West Alzheimer Society Alliance) who were supported by evaluators from the Centre for Community Based Research to conduct their own internal evaluation. The article provides an overview of a community-based research approach and its link to evaluation. It then describes the featured evaluation capacity building initiative, including reflections by the participating organizations themselves. We end by discussing lessons learned and their implications for future evaluation capacity building. Our main argument is that organizations that strive towards a community-based approach to evaluation are well placed to build and sustain a culture of evaluation.