Building evaluation capacity: definitional and practical implications from an Australian case study

Internationally, evaluation capacity-building activities have mushroomed as demands have increased for government-funded programs to demonstrate that they are effective and efficient. Despite this, there is a lack of clarity in the way in which evaluation capacity-building is defined and conceptualized. The current paper presents a case study of a national evaluation capacity building exercise that we are in the midst of conducting in Australia, and discusses the findings in relation to definitional, conceptual and practical issues. Specifically, we describe an evaluation capacity building exercise involving over 100 mental health projects, detailing the methods that we employ, some of the challenges that we have faced, and the benefits we feel we are achieving. Our key message is that definitions of evaluation capacity-building should not only make reference to equipping organizations to routinely conduct evaluations, but should also stress the varied uses to which evaluation findings can be put. In addition, such definitions should acknowledge some of the valuable by-products of evaluation capacity building activities, such as the development of shared understandings of the program or project being evaluated.     

A partnership forged: BSW students and service learning at a historically Black college and university (HBCU) serving urban communities

ABSTRACT

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have a long-standing history of engaging the African-American community. In most instances, these institutions are located in predominantly African-American communities. This article intends to offer a discussion of a pedagogical approach used at an HBCU, located in a large mid-Atlantic city. The purpose of this macro-assignment was an effort designed to prepare BSW students for macro-practice with communities through participation in service-learning projects that involved community engagement with urban communities. Outcomes reflect that students have a vested interest in working with underserved communities, which exemplifies the School of Social Work’s mission; said mission is to fully prepare urban social work leaders who are committed to the alleviation of human suffering, social justice, and the improvement of the quality of life for diverse urban populations.     

Practitioners’ Perspectives on Choice for Older Spousal Caregivers in Rural Areas

Recent shifts toward individual choice and consumer-directed practices largely conflict with traditional expectations of familial obligation and informal caregiving. The research reported on in this paper aimed to understand how practitioners’ perspectives of spousal caregiving obligations impact on choice in rural communities. Seven focus groups were conducted in rural and outer regional areas of North East Victoria, comprising 42 practitioners who work with older couples who reside in the community. Thematic analysis revealed practitioners’ personal values and constraints of the direct practice environment impact on the experience of choice for older Australians. This discussion considers the problematic nature of choice in policy and practice for older people and their caregivers in light of these findings.     

The New European Trade Preferences: Does ‘Everything But Arms’ (EBA) Help the Poor?

The EU’s offer of tariff‐ and quota‐free access for all exports from the Least Developed Countries (for Everything but Arms) has been welcomed as part of the WTO‐led initiative to assist these countries. But it is not without problems. As the Least Developed compete more with other developing countries than with the EU, trade is likely to be diverted from other, sometimes poorer, countries. (‘Least Developed’ is an official classification, not a neutral measure of poverty.) EBA contradicts and impedes the EU’s policies of reciprocity and promotion of regions: it not only creates an alternative trade regime, but seems unilaterally to break existing agreements. The article concludes that the policy was adopted for essentially political, not developmental, motives.     

Exploring Accountability in Social Enterprise: Priorities,Practicalities, and Legitimacy

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - This paper draws upon accountability and legitimacy theories to explore for what social enterprises are accountable, how...     

Progress and Pitfalls in Popularising Trade

Book reviewed in this article: A Raw Deal: Trade and the World's Poor. By Peter Madden Trade and the Poor: The Impact of International Trade on Developing Countries. By John Madeley Fixing the Rules: North—South Issues in International Trade and the GATT Uruguay Round. By Kevin Watkins Taming Commodity Markets: The Integrated Programme and the Common Fund in UNCTAD. By Gamani Corea Commodities in Crisis: The Commodity Crisis of the 1980s and the Political Economy of International Commodity Policies. By Alfred Maizels     

'I Value What You have to Say'. Seeking the Perspective of Children with a Disability, Not Just their Parents

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child acknowledges the right for children to express opinions about issues affecting them and the right to have these views heard (Davis, 1998). There has been an increase in the number of international studies including children as informants in research, but there is noticeably less published research including children as informants in Australia if they have a disability. Rather, there has been a reliance on parents/carers for insight into their child's experiences. In this article we present the results of a qualitative pilot study where we interviewed parents and their children who have cerebral palsy about their perceptions and experiences of communication in the medical consultation. We found that the views of children and parents were different, further reiterating the need to seek the perceptions of children as well as their parents.     

Dingo media? The persistence of the “trial by media” frame in popular,media, and academic evaluations of the Azaria Chamberlain case

In the bulk of popular, media, and scholarly discourse on Azaria Chamberlain’s disappearance there is overwhelming consensus that the sensationalist reporting of the event convicted parents Michael and Lindy of their daughter’s murder outside official court processes. In feminist scholarship in particular, the infant’s disappearance in August 1980 has been read according to a “trial by media” frame. This frame persists despite altered perspectives about the role of the Australian public whose punitive and collectively hostile response to a media-driven hysteria has been replaced with the portrait of a kinder and more compassionate nation. The objectives of this article are threefold: to demonstrate the persistence of the trial by media frame in popular, media, and academic discourse; to consider assumptions of a monolithic and hostile media; and by examining a previously unanalysed archive to suggest that these arguments overlook the existence of sympathetic voices in mainstream media as well as the dialogic connection between media and counter-publics mutually supporting the Chamberlains’ bid for innocence. This research offers an alternative view to scholarship on a landmark event in Australian history and has broader implications for the way we view the media in trial by media situations.