Voice

Based on literacy and on sociolinguistic and critical perspectives in the social sciences, voice is a concept that relates to issues of authority, power, and representation, often in texts. The work of Bakhtin, in particular, raises questions about who is speaking, who is not speaking, who is hearing, and how. Stakeholder involvement, particularly in the context of participatory evaluation, may address issues of voice in an evaluation; that is, involving stakeholders may demonstrate an effort to include and represent many voices. Alternative forms of representation, such as poetry or drama or polyphonic texts, are often the means of giving voice to the evaluation's stakeholders.