Abstract
The field of evaluation is a diverse domain covering both professional evaluation practice and evaluative research in a wide range of areas across the whole spectrum of clinical and social sciences. Thus, a variety of perspectives on the nature and methods of evaluation exists. This chapter proposes a general comprehensive integrative framework for guiding selection and design of evaluative procedures appropriate to particular evaluation contexts. The framework is built on the conceptualization of interventions or programs as organized action systems. Evaluation consists of formulating a judgment on the worth of interventions. Judgment can arise from a normative assessment of various intervention components and from an analysis of interrelations among those elements. It is suggested that the parameters of an evaluation will be determined on the basis of the specific evaluation context and the nature of the particular intervention, as well as on the basis of the evaluator’s epistemological perspective, which will influence the proposed validity criteria and the range and type of involvement of stakeholders considered. A recent evaluation of a return to work intervention (the Previcap Program) is presented to discuss and illustrate various evaluation issues specific to RTW contexts.
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Champagne, F., Rivard, M. (2016). Program Evaluation in Return to Work: An Integrative Framework. In: Schultz, I., Gatchel, R. (eds) Handbook of Return to Work. Handbooks in Health, Work, and Disability, vol 1. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7627-7_10
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