Chapter 12: Politics and negotiation in evaluative enquiry

Given the risks and dangers of evaluative research, the democratic solution is not to avoid them at all costs—though this is by far the most comfortable thing to do—for this, at some point, may deny the rights of people to be represented authentically or else to see authentically inside a program. We sometimes have to allow issues to be aired and confronted; evaluative research does insist that you calculate the extent of your personal courage. The practical solution is for the evaluative researcher to negotiate their way, exploring the boundaries of tolerance and insisting on reasonableness.

Negotiation starts with the design and purposes of the evaluative enquiry, with designing an ethics protocol governing the conduct of the enquiry and what happens in the event of controversy. Negotiation continues with the release of data, accomplished only with the negotiated agreement of those identifiable in the data, and, of course, with the final report. The evaluative researcher may well believe that they are telling their own story of what they found. However, the democratic imperative is to tell the story of program people, of the practitioner and his or her ‘client.’ Negotiation involves striking a balance between rights and obligations; the evaluative researcher almost always makes sacrifices in order to be true to their obligations to the evaluated. Those who are evaluated have rights and obligations. You as the evaluator or the evaluative researcher have only obligations.