Positive evaluation and learning
Looking for ‘success’ in Netherlands road safety policy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12567780 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Peter van der Knaap (0000-0003-4258-5310, SWOV – Institute for Road Safety Research, The Netherlands, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 432-443 |
| Publication date | 2017-10-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Evaluation (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1356-3890 • E-ISSN: 1461-7153 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1356389017733341 |
| OpenAlex | W2766863814 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 22 |
Traditionally, many academics and practitioners seek the added value of evaluation primarily to highlight errors and shortcomings. As a consequence, evaluative inquiry risks becoming associated with failure and, therefore, best to be avoided. It seems that, in this respect, evaluators may be their own worst enemies: how much of the perpetual questions and disappointments that often still seem to plague our craft – perceived lack of relevance and, hence, attention and utilization – can be blamed on our natural focus on problems and failure? What could be gained from a positive evaluation approach, in which the evaluator actively seeks to improve policy programmes by focusing on success? How can it contribute to effective learning? What benefits and challenges would emerge? Taking the ‘Sustainable Road Safety’ programme of The Netherlands as an example, this article investigates potential answers to these questions. Starting from a definition of positive evaluation and learning theory, I will describe the opportunities of positive evaluation for more effective policy-oriented learning processes. From this example, the positive – but cautious – conclusion is that, in order to contribute to effective learning while seeking to optimize policy programmes, an evaluator could do well to opt for ‘looking for success’ first
Business · Craft · Management science · Order (exchange · Political science · Public relations · Relevance (law · Risk analysis (engineering · Value (mathematics · Computer Science · Engineering · Evaluation and Performance Assessment · Policy Transfer and Learning · Psychology · Public Policy and Administration Research
Evaluation
The Audit Society
The Argumentative Turn in Policy Analysis and Planning
Positive Psychology
Performance Information for Democracy
Responsive Evaluation and Performance Management
Evaluation Utilization as Argumentation
Evaluation use in evaluation systems – the case of the European Commission
Theory-Based Evaluation and Learning
The use and usability of evaluation outputs
Pro-active Evaluators
How Much Does Evaluation Matter
Policy Evaluation and Learning
Social learning theory and developmental psychology
Reforms as experiments
Organizational Learning
| Citations per year | 0.38 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2018 - 2025 (8) |
| Highly cited | No |