Evaluering og institutionelle standarder: Nyinstitutionelle betragtninger af evaluering som vor tids ritual

Abstract

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Worlds apart or coproduction? Investigating the relationship between knowledge users and producers

“…is not a manifestation of evidence-driven political decision-making but a reflection of emergent discourses of NPM and ICT” 1 (p. 66). In contrast, the Norwegian evaluation tradition is characterized by both the theoretical and methodological influence of social science ideals (Dahler-Larsen, 2013). Researchers from universities or the research sector have traditionally performed most public evaluations, and this remains true in social policy (Høydal, 2019).…”

“…Although knowledge users and producers may represent different interests and cultures, the process of knowledge production in the form of evaluation or applied research will involve dialogue, cooperation, and mutual influence between these groups. By separating the process of evaluation into phases or rather moments , because they do not necessarily take place in a chronological order or are easily separated, Dahler-Larsen (2006) illustrates variations in the relationship and the power balance between knowledge users and producers during the sequence of an evaluation process. He suggests eight such moments: the initiating, the framing, the organizing, the designing, the data gathering, the analyzing, the validating, and the decision-making based on the evaluation results.…”

“…In addition, I will bring in the concept of knowledge brokering, which is seen as a consequence of the two-community perspective. The following analyses are theoretically informed by Dahler-Larsen’s (2006) model of the eight moments of an evaluation process. While previous work has tended to see the relationship between knowledge users and producers as static, characterized by their cultural differences, separating of evaluation process into different moments opens a more dynamic picture.…”

“…Inspired by Dahler-Larsen’s eight moments of an evaluation process, I have constructed four moments for my analytical purposes. I am leaving out the two last moments, which involves the internal organizational validation and decision-making based on the evaluation results.…”

“…In the role of initiator, knowledge users have the power to decide what, when, and how to evaluate. Simply by choosing a program for evaluation, the authorities signal the program’s importance or relevance (Dahler-Larsen, 2006). While one agency seems to be directly steered by their ministry to initiate evaluations, the majority reported a more independent role, and the internal processes for initiating evaluations vary across the organizations.…”