Evaluating evaluations: does the Swiss practice live up to the ‘program evaluation standards’?

Abstract

In a meta-evaluation of fifteen Swiss evaluation studies, The Program Evaluation Standards have been applied as assessment criteria. The studies cover different policy fields (environmental, industrial, energy, social policy, and foreign policy). The analysis is based on written materials and qualitative interviews with both stakeholders and evaluators. The article assesses the relationship between The Program Evaluation Standards and current Swiss evaluation practice. It also highlights the factors that often prevent evaluators from undertaking thorough and provocative examinations in a small, consensus-oriented democracy without a long tradition in evaluation research and practice. Finally, the paper reflects on whether The Program Evaluation Standards are appropriate for a different sociocultural, political and policy context.