Research & Publications
The big question that drives my work: How can evaluation help changemakers understand the complexity of problems and influence systemic change?
My research focuses on three distinct yet overlapping areas:
Below I list my published research including peer-reviewed journal articles, handbook chapters, a book, and other writing. Solo indicates what I have written independently and co-authored indicates collaborations with other researchers, practicing evaluators, and/or graduate students.
For a full list, visit my Google Scholar page or Research Gate profile. Happy to provide copies of any work, just email me.
Systems Approaches
There are lots of theories and methods that focus on systems and complexity that are relatively new to the evaluation field.
My work explores how systems approaches can be applied to evaluation practice and ways to reimagine evaluation from its traditional focus on policies and programs to catalyze change in large-scale systems.
2024, Resilience—Towards an interdisciplinary definition using information theory (co-authored journal article; link)
2024, Foreword to Theories of Change in Reality: Strengths, Limitations, and Future Directions (co-authored book foreword; in press)
2023, Challenges and strategies for implementers and evaluators working in conflict settings (co-authored journal article; link)
2023, Critical systems heuristics (co-authored book chapter; link)
2022, Ethics of evaluation for socio-ecological transformation: Case-based critical systems analysis of motivation, power, expertise, and legitimacy (co-authored journal article; link)
2021, Editors’ notes, Systems and Complexity-Informed Evaluation: Insights from Practice, New Directions for Evaluation Issue 170 (link)
2021, Introducing systems- and complexity-informed evaluation (co-authored journal article; link)
2021, Insights and future directions for systems and complexity-informed evaluation (co-authored journal article; link)
2021, System change evaluation: Insights from The Rippel Foundation and its ReThink Health initiative (co-authored journal article; link)
2019, Exploring the relevance of complexity theory for mixed methods research (co-authored journal article; link)
2018, Towards valuing with critical systems heuristics (solo-authored journal article; link)
2018, Case study methodology (co-authored handbook chapter; link)
2017, Learning from seasoned evaluators: Implications of systems approaches for evaluation practice (solo-authored journal article; link)
2017, Implications of the changing conversation about causality for evaluators (co-authored journal article; link)
2016, Towards systemic evaluation (co-authored journal article; link)
2016, Making sense of the emerging conversation in evaluation about systems thinking and complexity science (solo-authored journal article; link)
Values and Valuing
Change, whether in education, health, development, or other areas, involves multiple people who bring different values and perspectives.
My work explores how evaluations can integrate and balance these different values, especially when setting evaluative criteria that define success and synthesizing evidence and criteria into evaluative conclusions.
2023, Specification of evaluative criteria: A guide for evaluator educators (co-authored journal article; link)
2023, Valuing in evaluation (co-authored handbook chapter; in press)
2023, Democratic ideals in research and evaluation: Purposes, puzzles, and the public good (co-authored book chapter; link | full book link)
Equity and Ethics
Evaluations should advance equity and mitigate potential harm. But, as a field, evaluation sometimes exacerbates inequities.
My work explores issues of in/equity within evaluation processes and the larger ecosystem of evaluation. Additionally, I co-lead a regional initiative to build capacity to center equity within the northeast region of the U.S. as a way to connect research and practice.
2023, Equity-related ‘knots’ in theory of change development: Conceptualization and case illustrations (co-authored journal article; link)
2022, Equity “on the sideline”: A mixed methods study of New England evaluation practice in 2020 (co-authored journal article; link)
2022, It takes an ecosystem: Socioecological factors influencing equity-oriented evaluation in New England, U.S., 2021 (co-authored journal article; link)