Suggests a strategy for dealing with the situation in which evaluators wish to ask teenage participants in a life skills program questions that might be seen as controversial. The strategy relies on an inclusive planning committee, a low-key poll to provide background information, and a foot in the door opening to start the process. (SLD)

Suggests that the key issue in the evaluation problem scenario is not so much an ethical problem as it is a strategic problem. The evaluator needs to be educator, change agent, and organizational development practitioner to make this evaluation a success. (SLD)

Discusses the evaluation by Margaret Mead of the first Salzburg Seminar, an educational initiative undertaken to increase global understanding by broadening the perspectives of future leaders. Also describes Mead's evaluation methods. (SLD)

Discusses Margaret Mead's evaluation of the first Salzburg Seminar (1947), a forum for international exchange of intellectual ideas and cultural customs. Concludes that Mead's evaluation was highly successful in that it created an evocative representation of the seminar that told readers what it was like for its participants. (SLD)

Comments on the evaluation by Margaret Mead of the first Salzburg Seminar (1947). Notes the strength and clarity of Mead's evaluation report, which was written without the aid of the many tools on which today's evaluators draw. (SLD)

Continues the exploration of the effective use and misuse of performance indicators that has been conducted by various authors in this journal. Identifies some further limitations on the use of performance measurement and notes that many performance measurement undertakings make no provision for evaluating the impact of the undertakings…

Reviews a collection of 10 case descriptions of ethical problems in evaluation and 10 commentaries on them that appeared in the "American Journal of Evaluation" from 1998 to 2001. Explores the meaning of "ethical problems" and the relationship of ethics to best practices. (SLD)

Comments on two articles related to ethical challenges in evaluation and a series of articles on the subject published in the "American Journal of Evaluation" between 1998 and 2001. Considers the problems of ethical challenges in the context of principles and standards for evaluation developed by professional associations. (SLD)

Introduces the 21 papers in this special issue on the future of evaluation. These articles suggest a field that is more eclectic in methods, approaches, and practitioners than was the field described in a similar issue in 1994. (SLD)

Reviews the conclusions drawn in articles in this special issue and comments on some of the major themes, including paradigm debates, context issues, the role of evaluators and evaluation, the performance measurement movement, and the impact of new technologies on evaluation. (SLD)

Reviews this edition, which like the first is primarily an organized presentation of fieldwork vignettes and instructive examples from research and evaluation contexts. The presentation is organized by the steps involved in ethnographic fieldwork. This edition is updated with references to electronic technology. (SLD)

Discusses the inappropriate racial categorizations of minorities that have routinely infected evaluations and social research. By adhering to principles of democracy and including minorities as participants in dialogue, evaluators can avoid such damaging effects in their work. (Author/SLD)

Poses questions stimulated by Professor Stanfield's essay that evaluators must ask to ensure the equity of evaluations. The questions include examinations of the effects of racism on understanding and action and how program outcomes and evaluative judgments are conditioned by racially shaped assumptions, presumptions, and politics. (SLD)

Critiques the ways in which evaluators and professional organizations have come to terms with research on, issues about, and interests that impact people of color. Focuses on ways to create institutional change, including fostering the participation of researchers of color. (SLD)

Discusses the methodology and content of the evaluation of the Homeless Families Program. Focuses on data collection and the determination of program outcomes. Stresses the importance of stakeholder involvement and the flexibility of the evaluators as the evaluation unfolded. (SLD)