The development of evaluation as a profession: Current status and some Jonathan A. Morell Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital, USA Available online 3 July 2002. Abstract Sociological models of professionalization are applied to recent events in program evaluation in order
to understand the development of the field and to predict future events. The focus is on problems that
might arise and on the necessity of ameliorating them. The possibility of eliminating such problems is
discounted since they appear to be integral elements of the process of professionalization. Major
elements of the analysis include discussions of the consequences of the development of a specialized
body of evaluation knowledge, the definition of evaluation tasks, exclusivity in the performance of
those tasks, the development of professional associations, and problems in the training of evaluators.
The reasons for problems in these areas are presented and the importance of being aware of the
origin of the problems is discussed. |