Analysis of evaluation reports reveals a trend towards implementation-oriented definitions of effectiveness in public programs, suggesting practical implications.
Key Points
The study aims to assess how evaluation units interpret 'effectiveness' as defined by Canada's Policy on Results.
Analyzed 370 evaluation reports from major federal departments.
Used text mining techniques to extract themes from reports.
Conducted manual thematic analysis to categorize definitions of effectiveness.
A trend towards implementation-oriented definitions of effectiveness since 2014.
Variations in approaches to effectiveness were identified across different departments.
Findings suggest that evaluation strategies may prioritize implementation over outcome-focused evaluation.