Conflict Of Interest

Conflicts of interests occur when evaluators' personal or financial relationships have the potential to influence the design, conduct, or reporting of an evaluation. Evaluators are hired because they are perceived to be independent and free from bias and thus able to provide an objective assessment of the value of a program or policy. Although no one is entirely free from bias, evaluators should be sensitive to the potential conflicts of interest that occur in many evaluations and be prepared to deal with these conflicts in a way that maintains the integrity of the evaluation.

Conflicts of interest are often defined in financial terms. For example, if an elected official awards a contract to a firm in which she or he holds a financial interest, the decision is seen as a conflict. The elected official's interest in the company prevents an unbiased or objective choice being made of the best firm to perform the task. Financial conflicts of interest also occur in evaluation. Internal evaluators should not be involved in evaluations that affect the financial viability of their organization because such decisions affect their own livelihood. External evaluators should avoid the temptation to shape evaluations or their results to help them secure future contracts with either the current client or related clients.

Conflicts of interest extend beyond the financial. Often, in evaluation, conflicts of interest concern personal or organizational relationships or even personal beliefs. Evaluators often have relationships with people in the organizations that they evaluate or relationships with competing organizations, and these relationships can pose a conflict. Evaluators would not want to be in the position of judging a program managed by a close friend. Similarly, evaluators may have personal beliefs that influence their approach to a program. For example, an evaluator who has been a victim of a violent crime is more likely to have strong beliefs about victims' rights programs. Evaluators who have knowledge of the organization or the program under consideration or who have personal experience with the problems clients confront are often hired because their knowledge and experience can improve their ability to make useful recommendations. However, this familiarity also provides the potential for conflict of interest.

Both the American Evaluation Association Guiding Principles and the Program Evaluation Standards address conflicts of interest. The Program Evaluation Standards state: “Conflict of interest should be dealt with openly and honestly, so that it does not compromise the evaluation processes and results.” Disclosure may not be sufficient. In some cases, the conflict may be sufficiently great that either the client or the evaluator may choose to decline the evaluation. In other cases, where the conflict is not so extreme, the evaluation may proceed. The Program Evaluation Standards note that it is a mistake to avoid hiring a well-qualified evaluator solely because of fear of potential conflicts. Instead, care should be taken to disclose potential conflicts and to consider processes to avoid bias. The evaluator should seek input from others with different perspectives on the evaluation approaches and methods, interpretations of findings, recommendations, and ultimate judgments.

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