Rethinking the Roles of Evaluation in Learning how to Solve ‘Wicked’ Problems
The Case of Anticipatory Techniques used to Support Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12347312 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Stephen McGrail (Institute for Sustainable Futures, which is based at the University of Technology, Sydney, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 4-16 |
| Publication date | 2014-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Evaluation Journal of Australasia (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1035-719X • E-ISSN: 2515-9372 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1035719x1401400202 |
| OpenAlex | W2790526902 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 19 |
Many of the most pressing policy and social challenges of the modern era are widely viewed to be ‘wicked’ problems, that is, complex, largely intractable, contested problems. A good example is climate change mitigation and adaptation. The dual context for this article is: the recent increase in evaluative questions being asked by practitioners and policymakers who are seeking to address wicked socio-environmental problems (like climate change); and the recognition that such problems and related interventions present major challenges to evaluative inquiry. To effectively answer these evaluative questions, both practitioners and policymakers need the assistance of evaluators who recognise the limitations of traditional accountability-oriented evaluation and adequately understand the complexity of programs, the contexts in which they are embedded, and the socio-environmental problems they seek to address. This article reviews and builds on discussion of wicked environmental and policy problems in the evaluation literature to consider the evaluation challenges (and associated guiding principles) and potential roles for evaluative inquiry. The article argues that evaluations of interventions into wicked problems should be grounded in the realist paradigm. Drawing on the review and this theory, four roles for evaluative inquiry are identified: (1) testing and refining transferable intervention theories; (2) enabling learning (rather than demonstrating accountability); (3) providing decision support; and (4) mapping program complexity and prompting adequate consideration of complexity
Accountability · Adaptation (eye · Context (archaeology · Engineering ethics · Intervention (counseling · Management science · Political science · Psychological intervention · Sociology · Theory of change · Engineering · Evaluation and Performance Assessment · Health Policy Implementation Science · Psychology · Public Policy and Administration Research
The Science of Evaluation
Successful Adaptation to Climate Change
A framework to diagnose barriers to climate change adaptation
Using Programme Theory to Evaluate Complicated and Complex Aspects of Interventions
Wicked Comparisons
The use of scenarios as the basis for combined assessment of climate change mitigation and adaptation
Overcoming the tragedy of super wicked problems
Dilemmas in a general theory of planning
Broadening the range of designs and methods for impact evaluations
Wicked Problems
Anticipatory Learning for Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience
Climate Change as a Wicked Problem
The Generic Biothreat, Or, How We Became Unprepared
| Citations per year | 0.1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2016 - 2016 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |