Exploring values in evaluation: A guide to reading

In this reading guide, I suggest a range of books for evaluators seeking to learn about values and incorporate values in evaluation. Some are practical, others are philosophical and theoretical, and some blend theory and practice. Learning about values in evaluation is not like learning a new technique or method. It requires an understanding of what values are, how they are enacted in society, and how to think critically about values at all points through an evaluation. Values, and their proper role in social science, have been debated for more than a century. Although many evaluators may reject the idea of value-free social science, ambivalence about values is embedded in social science practice. Learning about values, and working with values in evaluation, may first require unlearning older ideas about values and rethinking evaluation theories and practices informed by a contemporary understanding of values and their role in evaluative judgement. First in the list are books that explain the history of values in social science and provide new ways of thinking about values. Within the evaluation literature, there are books rethinking the role of values in evaluation, evaluation approaches guided by values, and practical guides to evaluation that include explicit discussion of values. Outside the evaluation field, there is practical and theoretical literature relevant to our challenges in evaluation. Evaluators can learn about methods for discussing and negotiating values from the literature on deliberative practice. The values-based practice movement in health and social care has resources that are relevant to evaluators, not just in health care contexts. In public administration and public policy, there is a growing literature on public values, seeking to understand the values that represent the broad public welfare in a democracy.