Befragung von Projektverantwortlichen und potentiellen Nutzern der Evaluationen der Bundesverwaltung, Regierung und Aufsichtsorgane der Jahre 1999 - 2002

For more than twenty years, the topic of the use of evaluations has been one of the central topics of the theoretical discussion in evaluation science. In recent times, this discourse has been shaped by the development of an integrated theory of the use and influence of evaluations. Empirical studies investigating the importance of influencing factors on use have been pushed into the background. The growing gap between increasingly differentiated theory development on the one hand and narrow empirical basis on the other hand applies in particular to the analysis of the influence of institutional arrangements in the planning and implementation of evaluations on their use. Should evaluations, in order to be useful, for example, aim for close contact between evaluators and those being evaluated? Or does a high degree of independence between the two actors in the evaluation process tend to lead to the use of evaluation results in practice? The few published findings on these and similar questions are usually based on specific practical experience. Systematic studies are lacking. The Swiss National Science Foundation therefore financed a study carried out by Andreas Balthasar, which intended to close this gap. It examines the influence of the institutional arrangement in which an evaluation is carried out on its use.