Evaluation Science

Culturally and politically science is under attack. The core consequence of perceiving and asserting evaluation as science is that it enhances our credibility and effectiveness in supporting the importance of science in our world and brings us together with other scientists to make common cause in supporting and advocating for science. Other consequences include communicating our role more clearly and credibly to those who value science. Viewing evaluation as science may affect how we are viewed, treated, and positioned in academia, government, and by funders and users of evaluation. The ramifications of evaluation science for evaluation’s status as a profession, branch of applied social science, discipline, and transdiscipline are reviewed. The conclusion offers implications, caveats, and cautions regarding the identity and practice of evaluation science