Which of the following is a weakness of the decision-oriented approach to program evaluation?
A) Important decisions may be made in advance, which may ignore the organic nature of programs
B) Emphasis on qualitative methods may cause concerns of evaluator bias
C) Program merit or worth is limited to program objectives
D) Focus on stakeholders limits participant involvement

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The strengths of the decision-oriented approach include:
• Collecting useful information to make informed decisions for the purpose of program changes,
• Focusing of evaluation activities on specific program aspects (e.g., planning, structure, implementation), and
• Emphasizing timely ongoing feedback through the life cycle of the program.
Weaknesses of the decision-oriented approach include:
• Emphasis on a single stakeholder group's needs (e.g., managers) makes this approach undemocratic,
• There is a possibility that important information may not be gathered if the manager does not see its importance,
• The manager may fail to make decisions even when presented with relevant information,
• It can be costly to carry out an evaluation on all aspects of a program, and
• Important decisions may be made in advance, which may ignore the organic nature of programs (Fitzpatrick et al., 2011).

Which of the Following Is a Weakness of the Decision-Oriented