Means-Ends Relations

Simplistically, means are processes, activities, ways of doing or being, and ends are the achievements, outcomes, states of being that result from means. Means and ends are sometimes also thought of as process and outcome, the more common manifestation in evaluation. In this context, there is a focus on the instrumental understanding of means-end relations. Particularly in realist approaches to evaluation, means-ends relations are key to determining when a program or process has an intended effect. In evaluation, there is concern over what takes precedence—the means or the ends or how to balance the two. Some evaluation approaches more naturally focus on means (for example, participatory, responsive, appreciative inquiry) and others focus on ends (for example, realist and experimental approaches), although both are relevant to all evaluation approaches. In the former case, the means can become the ends, but in the latter, the means cannot be ends in and of themselves.

Understanding means-end relations is necessary not only in the empirical scientific disciplines but is [Page 247]also a consideration in moral philosophy. Questions about the universality of means and ends has vexed moral philosophers for centuries and is an abiding topic in religious studies. The ubiquity of means-end relations is communicated through common discourse, such as “the means justify the ends,” “the ends do not justify the means,” and “a means to an end.”