The Theory of Planned Behavior and Stakeholder Involvement in Program Evaluation: Evaluator Decisions about Diversity, Depth, and Control
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2015-05
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University of Hawaii at Manoa
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Stakeholder involvement in program evaluation is prominent in the evaluation literature, and numerous approaches have evolved over the past 40 years. It is also promoted as good professional practice. However, despite general agreement in the field that stakeholders should be involved, more empirical research is needed to guide evaluation practice. This study focused on decisions to involve stakeholders through a survey of evaluators belonging to one or more of four professional evaluation associations (N = 910). I investigated a decision-making model for stakeholder involvement that incorporated the components of the theory of planned behavior (attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control) and a theoretical framework that includes three dimensions of participation (stakeholder diversity, depth of participation, and control over decision making). First, I used structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the viability of the decision-making model in predicting evaluators’ intentions and self-reported behaviors about stakeholder involvement. Second, I used multi-group SEM analyses to examine differences between evaluators with less and more experience. Third, I explored other additional features of the respondents’ self-selected evaluations that affected their decisions about diversity, depth, and control over decision making through qualitative analysis of open-ended comments. Results of the SEM analysis indicated that the fit of the decision-making model was acceptable. The direction of the pathways generally supported the theory of planned behavior as a viable model for predicting intentions and actual behaviors, although a few pathways were contrary to what was predicted. The findings showed that evaluators’ intentions about involving stakeholders in their general practice were significant and positive predictors of actual participation in terms of diversity, depth, and shared decision-making control, which points to the importance of evaluator preferences for involvement. Additionally, preferences for control over decision making played a role in decisions about diversity and depth. Evaluators with more experience had significantly greater intentions about stakeholder involvement and reported more diversity, greater depth of participation, and greater sharing of decision-making control. The responding evaluators also reported that considerations of resources and time and stakeholder willingness and availability affected their decisions about diversity, depth of involvement, and control over decision making.
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Theses for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (University of Hawaii at Manoa). Educational Psychology
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