Tensions that arise between researchers and practitioners

IDinsight Technical Team Director Marc moderated a panel titled “Results vs. Rigor: Balancing Tensions for Productive Evaluation Partnerships” at the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness (SREE) conference in Washington DC on March 7th. The panel discussed the tensions that often arise between researchers and practitioners; specifically certainty, timing, and independence.

Do researchers/evaluators need a certain amount of independence to ensure they are not being pressured to (even if subconsciously) to produce results in a particular direction? On the other hand, will evaluators understand enough of the program details and nuances to ask the right questions if they are too independent? Will practitioners buy into the results if evaluators haven’t been engaging them all along throughout the process?

Read the full abstract here.