Evaluation: Manifestations of a new field

An examination of three characteristics of evaluation reveals significant divisions of opinion, suggesting that it is premature to seek a defining conceptual framework for this still evolving field. Therefore an alternative approach toward understanding evaluation is followed: empirical manifestations of the history and current state of evaluation are examined for evidence of growth and integration.A review of the history of evaluation suggests four causes for its recent growth: new accountability requirements, greater interest among social scientists in social relevance, a scarcity of resources for the traditional social sciences, and an expansion of methods useful for research in applied settings.Three empirical signs of the new field are described: the concepts and strategies employed in evaluation efforts, the discipline of practicing evaluators, and dissemination of evaluation information. The conclusions suggest that there are both signs of cohesiueness and immaturity in the current state of evaluation.     

The development of evaluation as a profession: Current status and some predictions

Sociological models of professionalization are applied to recent events in program evaluation in order to understand the development of the field and to predict future events. The focus is on problems that might arise and on the necessity of ameliorating them. The possibility of eliminating such problems is discounted since they appear to be integral elements of the process of professionalization. Major elements of the analysis include discussions of the consequences of the development of a specialized body of evaluation knowledge, the definition of evaluation tasks, exclusivity in the performance of those tasks, the development of professional associations, and problems in the training of evaluators. The reasons for problems in these areas are presented and the importance of being aware of the origin of the problems is discussed.     

An alternative evaluation approach for the problem-solving training program: A utilization-focused evaluation process

A utilization-focused approach in evaluating this program would have placed more emphasis on clearly identifying evaluation users, their information needs, and likely use of findings. With the advantages of hindsight, it appears that such an approach might have led to greater focus on critical implementation issues that affected the eventual decision not to continue the program despite seemingly positive outcomes evaluation findings. Other methods options are also discussed, including the potential usefulness of critical case studies. Finally, there is discussion of how to prepare decision makers for utilization and work with them to interpret and apply findings.     

Practical problems associated with programme evaluation in third world countries

Problems in conducting programme evaluation in third world countries can be divided into four interrelated categories: those associated with design, personnel, time, and budget. Some of the problems in each of these areas are considered and suggestions for dealing with them are presented.     

Native subjects on display: reviving the colonial exposition in Marcos' Philippines

At the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, 1100 Filipino ‘natives’ were used as human displays to argue for the colonial enterprise in the Philippines. Seventy years later, the Marcos regime staged Kasaysayan ng Lahi (History of the Race), a mass ceremony that reworked the visual, performative and commercial dynamics of the 1904 colonial exposition to promote heritage tourism in the Philippines. While the use of human displays in colonial expositions has been well documented and analyzed as a constitutive element of a Eurocentric ‘exhibitionary complex’, its uptake in developing nations seeking entry into an emergent cultural economy has yet to be explored. This article places critical analyses of colonial expositions, human displays and heritage tourism in productive dialogue, and examines the continuities and discontinuities between the Philippine exhibit at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair and the 1974 staging of Kasaysayan ng Lahi by the Marcos regime. Against established views of ‘staged authenticities’ as either exploitative or socially empowering, this case study advances a more complex framework for critical histories of the exhibitionary complex, and foregrounds the internal contradictions that inhere within the staging of indigenous heritage for purposes of cultural revitalization and economic development.     

光绪初年俄商偷运砖茶倾销蒙古地区问题考述

光绪初年 ,俄商违反中俄双方协定向蒙古地区偷运砖茶 ,经过总税务司赫德的核查发现 ,偷运砖茶数量巨大、后果严重 ,垄断了蒙古砖茶市场 ,排挤了华商 ,引起各国的不满。天津海关道提出制定《蒙古税则》以杜绝砖茶私售蒙古、恢复华商活力并增加财政收入。总理衙门以与成案不符 ,流弊滋多批驳。恰值曾纪泽赴俄解决崇厚所签条约的善后之行。他在《圣·彼得堡条约》中满足了俄国在蒙古及我国西北边境贸易的全部要求。这个以满足通商要求换回土地的谈判原则 ,对蒙古地区的损害至大 ,使俄国在蒙古的影响逐渐超过中国。辛亥革命以后蒙古闹独立 ,其源头之一就在于此     

改进的货币需求法与未观测经济规模估测

 作为尚未被国民经济核算监测和计量的经济活动,“未观测经济”范畴自2002年被正式提出以来,理论界对其规模测算的研究不断深入;未观测经济本身亦对中国的经济运行产生了可感知的实际影响。本文构建了基于修正货币需求法的未观测经济估测模型,并首次将用以对不可观测变量进行量测的状态空间模型引入了未观测经济规模的测算。研究结果反映了过去20年间中国未观测经济的规模,而建立的模型本身亦可对未观测经济规模进行动态地监测。     

基于大工程观的地方高校工科人才素质培养研究

大工程观包括工程经济观、工程价值观、工程系统观、工程生态观和工程社会观;高等工程教育必须应对工程全球化、工程社会性和工程复杂性的挑战,开展"大工程"观引领下的工科人才素质培养研究,实施"大工程"观指导下的人才培养模式改革.     

中国棉花生产波动的实证分析

运用内部传导与外部冲击模型对我国棉花产量波动的形成原因进行了实证分析 ,结果表明 ,政策和自然灾害等外部冲击对棉花生产波动的影响较大 ,而在影响我国棉花产量波动的内部因素中 ,种植面积的波动是最主要的因素。