Values

A common definition of evaluation states that it is the determination of the value (merit, worth, or significance) of a program, project, policy, object (e.g., a textbook), or even a person (as, for example, in personnel evaluation or performance auditing). Four important issues are involved in discussing the notion of value in light of this definition.

The first issue has to do with what “having value” means. Consider the following uses of the term good: “That performance of Street Car Named Desire was good.” “John is a good person.” “That program for treating drug addiction is good.” In the first statement, good clearly refers to some kind of aesthetic value (it depends on some account of what beauty is); in the second statement, good refers to ...