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What is different about the conduct of evaluations in conflict zones compared to non conflict zones—and how do these differences affect (if at all) the ethical calculations and behaviour of evaluators? When are ethical issues too risky, or too uncertain, for evaluators to accept—or to continue—an evaluation? These are the core questions guiding this article. The first section considers how the particularities of conflict zones affect our ability to conduct evaluations. The second section undertakes a selective review of the literature to better understand how ethical issues have been addressed both in evaluation research and in evaluation manuals. The third section draws on a series of structured conversations with evaluators to probe more deeply into the ethical challenges they face in conflict zones—with a particular interest in the ‘‘ethical tipping points’’ of evaluators. The fourth section considers ways evaluation actors can manage ethical challenges in conflict zones, concluding with a brief discussion of how these issues might be located more centrally in evaluation research and practice. Keywords complexity, conflict evaluation, ethics, politics, risk
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In this Evidence Report, we discuss some of the limitations of current ethical debates in the field of impact evaluation, and evaluation more broadly, reflected in the interview data reported. Firstly, we argue that evaluation is different to research, being inherently about resource use decisions, and often politicised in some way because significant interests are at stake (a point we discuss at length in Section 6). An approach that is primarily about the ‘protection of the subject’ – as borrowed from research – underplays the potential role of ethics in the value judgements made by evaluators, as well as evaluation’s broader ethical role in society (such as accountability to citizens, or the moral obligation to make data available for re-analysis). And secondly, we argue that the reality of evaluation ethics is ultimately achieved through a series of value judgements that are ‘situated in practice’ and are not guided solely by ethical principles. This report goes on to conclude that a new ethical agenda is needed to broaden the debate so that ethical practice within evaluation is not limited to complying with procedures borrowed from medical research where the moral imperative is the protection of the subject.
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Health Promotion Practice
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"There are well-established ethical standards that apply to the conduct of research in Australia, including research within Indigenous contexts. Ethics committees oversee academic or institutional research design and practice to ensure that methods are culturally appropriate and that the rights of individuals and communities are respected and protected. NHMRC guidelines specifically address the issues of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants. The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies has produced a set of research Ethics guidelines, structured around 14 principles. Evaluation is a form of research which provides particular ethical issues. As well as being guided by the ethical guidelines set out above, the Australasian Evaluation Society’s guidelines for ethical conduct of evaluations also provide a standard that Australian evaluators in general would adhere to. But do these ethics processes and guidelines take into account the complete array of issues that arise with program evaluations? The authors’ experiences and observations suggest that they do not, and they are supported by much of the international literature. After detailing some of the challenges faced by the authors and by others working in the northern Australian context, four potential areas of improvement are detailed. The seminar will be of particular interest to research and evaluation practitioners, commissioners of evaluation and organisations/agencies that are subject to evaluation. "
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Journal of Peacebuilding & Development
