Keynote Speakers

Ms Sue Soal

Sue will present on building evaluation into one's own organisational practice and management, with a case-focus on CDRA – the Community Development Resource Association, a South African non-government organisation. In addition to the conference strands of Influencing (the role that evaluation can play in organisational strengthening), and Managing Evaluation (emphasising principles, processes and techniques for pursuing this approach), Sue will look at some challenges in describing social and relational fields, and the implications in terms of the tasks of Describing, Attributing and Valuing.

CDRA offers an integrated service comprising action research through collaborative inquiry, a range of courses for development practitioners, organisational development accompaniment, and the production and dissemination of perspectives and lessons learnt. A key part of Sue's practice is the facilitation of her own organisation's regular action research and learning processes. Aimed at creating the conditions for rigorous peer learning from experience and designed to surface, share and improve practice, these processes constitute the heart of CDRA. Here, the organisation learns, holds itself to account, manages its practice, builds and sustains its team, renews strategy, develops perspectives and hones methodology for work with clients and colleagues. Sue will present an approach to engaging in evaluation as both a learning process to develop practice, and as a method for meaningful accountability.

Professor Hallie Preskill

Hallie will present on building evaluation capacity and linking evaluation to organisational learning, focusing on the conference strands of Influencing through evaluation and Managing Evaluation.

Hallie is the 2007 President of the American Evaluation Association and Professor in the School of Behavioural and Organizational Sciences, Claremont Graduate University. She was previously Professor of Organizational Learning and Instructional Technology at the University of New Mexico.  Her most recent books include Reframing Evaluation Through Appreciative Practices (Preskill & Catsambas, 2006), Building Evaluation Capacity: 72 Activities for Teaching and Training (Preskill & Russ-Eft, 2005), Evaluation in Organizations: A Systematic Approach to Enhancing Learning, Performance & Change (Russ-Eft & Preskill, 2001), Evaluative Inquiry for Learning in Organizations (Preskill & Torres, 1999), Evaluation Strategies for Communication and Reporting (Torres, Preskill & Piontek, 2nd ed., 2005), and Using Appreciative Inquiry in Evaluation (Preskill & Coghlan, New Directions for Evaluation #100, 2003). Her next book is focused on the ways in which organizations and communities can use adult learning theory to develop members' ability and willingness to engage in program evaluations.

Professor Ray Pawson

Ray will reflect on the achievements of evaluation – in particular on the matter of whether it has produced a transferable, durable and cumulative body of knowledge. He will argue that the development and testing of programme theory remains the key to these laudable ambitions. It provides the thread that links the pattern making capacity of social science and the hell raising capabilities of programme subjects.

Ray Pawson is Professor of Social Research Methodology and Research Director of the School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds, UK. His main interest, perforce, is in research methodology and he has written widely on the principles and practice of research, covering methods - qualitative and quantitative, pure and applied, contemporaneous and historical. Publications include A Measure for Measures (1989) and Realistic Evaluation (1997). He was elected president of the Committee on Methodology of the International Sociological Association (94-98). He has served much time in prison (for research purposes) being a former UK director of the International Forum for Education in Penal Systems (95-97). He is best known for his writing on evaluation methodology and evidence based policy, work which has been supported over the years by three ESRC senior fellowships. He has held the post of visiting professor at the University of Rome and University of Victoria and visiting fellow at the UK ESRC Centre for Evidence Based Policy and Practice. He has acted as researcher and consultant on programme evaluation for various UK agencies including the HO, DETR, Hefce, HDA, NICE and DfES. His most recent book, Evidence- Based Policy: A Realist Perspective was published by Sage in 2006. It has its own website at: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/realistsynthesis/

The Conference Committee acknowledges the assistance of CIRCLE (Collaborative Institute for Research, Consulting and Learning in Evaluation), RMIT University and the RMIT International Foundation in supporting the visit of Ray Pawson to attend the 2007 AES International Conference.