Redefining Research on Evaluation to Unlock Its Full Empirical and Conceptual Potential

What the paper says

ABSTRACT This article redefines the term Research on Evaluation (RoE) by applying principles from concept analysis and terminology. A central contribution is the distinction between two types of evaluation‐related research. RoE refers to the scientific inquiry of evaluation phenomena, including evaluators and their practices, but also other evaluation social objects. In contrast, Research in Evaluation (RiE) denotes the scientific inquiry of the value of social interventions, the subject matter of evaluation as a discipline. RiE is essential to the field, as it provides the substantive theories that underpin the defining activity of evaluation: making warranted judgments of value. The article further clarifies RoE and RiE by providing several conceptual adjustments. It argues that both must be understood within the broader principles of scientific research, which extend beyond notions of systematic or purposeful inquiry. It challenges the exclusion of non‐empirical work as inconsistent with the general nature of research and as unnecessarily limiting for both RoE and RiE. Finally, it contends that the domain of RoE is broader than evaluation practice alone and encompasses a wider array of evaluation‐related phenomena.