Meaningful Evaluation
A Holistic and Systemic Approach to Understanding and Assessing Outcomes
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2641589 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gianni Zappala (0000-0003-0647-2925, University of Technology Sydney, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 2-3 |
| Publication date | 2020-11-25 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Cosmopolitan Civil Societies An Interdisciplinary Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1837-5391 • E-ISSN: 1837-5391 |
| Publisher | University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.5130/ccs.v12.i2-3.7034 |
| OpenAlex | W3113648179 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 12 |
The concept and practice of Social Impact and Social Impact assessment has developed and matured over the last decade. Despite this growth, confusion still exists with respect to definitions of social impact as well as which tools and frameworks are most appropriate. Central to the concept and practice of social impact is a focus on outcomes. This paper argues that a discernible albeit problematic pattern and approach has emerged in outcomes measurement within the social impact field. After briefly reviewing some of the key problems with how outcomes measurement is practised, it presents some recent approaches from the evaluation field that attempt to address some of these concerns before introducing a new approach to understanding and evaluating outcomes - Meaningful Evaluation (ME). A pilot Meaningful Evaluation of volunteer ethics teachers in the Primary Ethics program in NSW is used to illustrate the approach. ME combines the Map of Meaning (MoM) with insights from next generation evaluation approaches to understand and assess outcomes. Informed by appreciative inquiry perspectives, it provides a means to bridge the divide between positivist and interpretivist approaches in evaluation. Key to ME is the assumption that it is more likely that immediate outcomes lead to medium and long-term outcomes (changes in behaviour) that are sustainable and lead to impact if participants experience program interventions as 'meaningful'. Meaning is an important internal outcome that is essential if longer-term external outcomes are to occur. It also shifts the focus to capture unintended outcomes, key to developing holistic and systemic rather than linear and mechanistic Theories of Change
Appreciative Inquiry · Engineering ethics · Epistemology · Knowledge management · Management science · Process management · Psychological intervention · Psychotherapist · Unintended consequences · Appreciative Inquiry and Organizational Change · Community Development and Social Impact · Computer Science · Engineering · Evaluation and Performance Assessment · Medicine · Psychology
Measuring outcomes experienced by users of community services—The development of the community services outcomes tree and the associated survey template
Future-oriented capabilities impact framework
The Development of a Questionnaire to Assess Research and Evaluation Capacity-Building
Pivoting post-pandemic
L’interdisciplinarité empathique au cœur de l’étude sur le deuil
The new dynamics of strategy
An Introduction to Scientific Realist Evaluation
What Impact? A Framework for Measuring the Scale and Scope of Social Performance
Qualitative Researching
Using Programme Theory to Evaluate Complicated and Complex Aspects of Interventions
The connection between logic models and systems thinking concepts
Systemic Evaluation, Impact Evaluation and Logic Models
The politics of social impact
Social Impact, a Theoretical Model
Everyone's Story Counts
Meso level Social Impact
A Participatory Inquiry Paradigm
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2025 (5) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |