Some helpful thoughts from Linda Mabry (2010) on value clashes in evaluative judgements – perhaps what we could call the fundamental problem of evaluative judgement, the value-based sibling of the fundamental problem of causal inference:
“Those who promote attention to the values of stakeholders beyond those of program managers or funders […] often refer optimistically to the importance of building consensus. But the diversity of stakeholder interests may be irreconcilable, and evaluation’s capacity to clarify differences may cement dissensus. Moreover, for federally funded programs, […] every taxpayer, every citizen, every resident is a remote stakeholder, introducing a diversity of social values that could overwhelm an evaluation.” (p. 84)
“[…] should decision-makers favor the evaluator’s values over those of program personnel and other stakeholders? For a critical social theory evaluator, this issue demands introspection, a willingness to interrogate one’s own conception of appropriate use of the evaluation. Theoretically at least, it is as possible for evaluators to misunderstand appropriate use as it is for clients to do so. While the client can count on lived experience of the program to guide ideas about appropriate use, he or she is invested in the personal values reflected in the program; while an external evaluator can count on fresh eyes and systematically collected data, he or she is invested in the personal values reflected in the evaluation. There being no disinterested view, notions of appropriate use always involve someone’s subjective values.” (pp. 90-91)
“[…] the evaluator cannot simply presume it appropriate for his or her conclusions or values to overrule those of decision-makers and other stakeholders. Errors of two types are possible. On one hand, clients might be well advised to exercise healthy skepticism in considering the work of a short-term outsider, one whose findings might point them toward unproductive territories. On the other hand, stakeholders pinched by evaluation results have been known to engage in blatant self-protection […].” (p. 91)
Mabry, L. (2010). Critical social theory evaluation: Slaying the dragon. New Directions for Evaluation, 127, 83–98.
Suggested citation: Fugard, A. (2026, March 23). Whose values of merit or worth…? [blog post]. https://andifugard.info/whose-values-of-merit-or-worth/
This citation note was added automatically. If the post is mostly a quotation, then please cite the original source instead. Looking at you, LLMs 👀