Journal Articles

Evaluation units as knowledge brokers: Testing and calibrating an innovative framework

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Evaluation units, located within public institutions, are important actors responsible for the
production and dissemination of evaluative knowledge in complex programming and
institutional settings. The current evaluation literature does not adequately explain their role in
fostering better evaluation use. The article offers an empirically tested framework for the
analysis of the role of evaluation units as knowledge brokers. It is based on a systematic,
interdisciplinary literature review and empirical research on evaluation units in Poland within
the context of the European Union Cohesion Policy, with complementary evidence from the US
federal government and international organizations. In the proposed framework, evaluation
units are to perform six types of brokering activities: identifying knowledge users’ needs,
acquiring credible knowledge, feeding it to users, building networks between producers and
users, accumulating knowledge over time and promoting an evidence-based culture. This
framework transforms evaluation units from mere buyers of expertise and producers of
isolated reports into animators of reflexive social learning that steer streams of knowledge to
decision makers.

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Detail Information

Series Title

Evaluation

Call Number

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Publisher

Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage Publications., 2016

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

13563890

Classification

NONE

Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

Volume 22, Issue 2, April 2016; pp. 168–189

Subject(s)

Evidence-based policy
Organizational learning
Evaluation use
knowledge broker

Specific Detail Info

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Statement of Responsibility

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