Using Action Design Research to Research and Develop Evaluation Practice

Abstract Although much research on evaluation (RoE) is intended to eventually improve practice, little of it embeds the research in ongoing evaluations so that immediate improvements can be made at the local practitioner level in real time. Action Design Research is an approach to develop and improve practice as part of the ongoing process of conducting an evaluation. After identifying limitations in current approaches to RoE, I discuss the need for a case‐based view of practice that emphasizes practical as well as technical reasoning and then discuss the use of Action Design Research to develop and test alternative evaluation practices to both improve ongoing practice and contribute to general knowledge about the professional practice of evaluation.