Search

One of the most dominant trends in the field of evaluation in recent years is the institutionalization of evaluation under headlines such as “evaluation culture,” “evaluation policy,” and “evaluation systems.” There has been less interest in how evaluation systems can be changed, modified, or improved, not to mention deinstitutionalized, if necessary. Can a variety of stakeholders deliberate about the consequences of an evaluation system, and can it lead to policy change? A case study of a ministerial advisory group on national tests in Denmark shows how specific challenges were dealt with, such as the design of the deliberative process, the potential dominance of experts, and the distinction between technical-evaluative and practical-political arguments, and how these maneuvers paved the way for policy change. Based on the case study, the article discusses the prospects for democratic deliberation about evaluation systems.

While methodologists often assert that a mixed methods approach has greater practical utility than a monomethod approach used in a similar setting, empirical data have been lacking. To examine this assertion, we studied the practical utility of workplace assessments in 1801 public organizations in Denmark, of which 540 chose mixed methods. We measure utility in terms of action taken as well as perceived utility. We contribute to mixed methods research by documenting higher practical utility in mixed methods. Mixed methods share with qualitative methods an association with influence from local stakeholders and employee engagement, but not the weaknesses of qualitative methods (such as lack of documentation and incompatibility with management preferences). Mixed methods may serve diverse stakeholders as a successful hybrid rather than as a unique paradigm.

The E2F family of transcription factors plays a crucial role in the regulation of genes involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. In keratinocytes, the inhibition of E2F is a key step in the control and initiation of squamous differentiation. Because the product of the recently identified E2F7a/E2F7b gene has been shown to repress E2F-regulated promoters, and to be abundant in skin, we examined its role in the epidermis. Our results indicate that E2F7b mRNA expression is selectively associated with proliferation-competent keratinocytes. Moreover, E2F7 was able to antagonize E2F1-induced proliferation and apoptosis. In contrast, although E2F7 was able to inhibit proliferation and initiate differentiation, it was unable to antagonize the differentiation suppression induced by E2F1. These data indicate that E2F7-mediated suppression of proliferation and apoptosis acts through E2F1-dependent pathways, whereas E2F7-induced differentiation acts through an E2F1-independent pathway. These data also suggest that proliferation, differentiation, and survival of primary human keratinocytes can be controlled by the relative ratio of E2F1 to E2F7. Because deregulated proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis are hallmarks of cancer, we examined the expression levels of E2F1 and E2F7 in cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas (CSCC). We found that both genes were overexpressed in CSCCs compared with normal epidermis. Furthermore, inhibition of E2F7 in a SCC cell line sensitized the cells to UV-induced apoptosis and doxorubicin-induced apoptosis. Combined, these data suggest that the selected disruption of E2F1 and E2F7 in keratinocytes is likely to contribute to CSCC formation and may prove to be a viable therapeutic target. [Cancer Res 2009;69(5):1800–9]

Supplementary Table 1 from E2F7 Can Regulate Proliferation, Differentiation, and Apoptotic Responses in Human Keratinocytes: Implications for Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma Formation

Supplementary Figure 1 from E2F7 Can Regulate Proliferation, Differentiation, and Apoptotic Responses in Human Keratinocytes: Implications for Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma Formation

Background This study evaluated an attempt to implement video consultations through a novel approach to telehealth training and implementation in two middle-sized hospitals in Denmark. Three units tested the novel approach along with a regional decision to strengthen multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration through technology to improve service delivery by making the process more coherent, as well as to save time and resources. This study aims to investigate what contextual factors enable workplace learning, skills acquisition, and utilization of new digital skills to use video consultations in workplace practice. Methods This comparative case study draws on the principles of realist evaluation using a qualitative approach concerned with testing and refining program theories by exploring the complex and dynamic interaction among context, mechanism, and outcome. The methods in this study included participant observations, document analysis, semi-structured individual interviews, and focus groups. We performed an interpretive analysis, which explored the context-mechanism-outcome relationship using the guiding question, “what works, for whom, under what circumstances, and why?” Results Two broad mechanisms appeared to enable skills acquisition and routinization of video consultations: informal workplace learning and adjusting the use of video consultations to professional judgment. The three units had different approaches to the implementation and training and, as such, had different outcomes. First, the skills acquired in the units differed; therefore, how and with whom they used video consultations varied. Second, video consultation use was more likely to be adjusted to workflows if unit managers were responsive to staff’s professional judgments regarding patients, as was evident in all three units. Conclusion Our study shows that a formal training course alone is insufficient to provide healthcare professionals with the skills needed to use video consultations in workplace practice. Informal workplace learning with support on the spot and continuous follow-up seems to equip healthcare professionals with the skills they need to use video consultations. Video consultations are more likely to be used confidently if novel workflows are adjusted to health care professionals' knowledge, skills, and judgment and their concerns regarding patient soundness.

Given ongoing changes in the social structuration of evaluation, the circulation of evaluative information is becoming an increasingly important factor in the production of constitutive effects of evaluation. There is power in the circulation of evaluative information, and therefore also power in attempts to regulate or curb it. Based on one case exemplifying massive circulation of evaluative information (Google Scholar), and one with very limited circulation (workplace assessments), we show how infrastructure, interests and institutional rules are useful analytical entry points into studies of circulation. The paper proposes a new theoretical and empirical attention to circulation of evaluative information as a fragile and contested phenomenon.

The effect of organizational conflict on the use of performance information is enigmatic and understudied. A study of the use of workplace assessments (WPAs) in 1669 Danish agencies shows that conf...

Pelaksanakan bimbingan dan konseling seorang pembimbing haruslah memahami karakter individu, baik dengan cara tes maupun nontes sehingga kegiatan bimbingan dan konseling bisa dilaksanakan sesuai dengan apa yang dibutuhkan siswa. Masalah adalah sesuatu yang tidak luput dari setiap manusia. Menurut KBBI masalah diartikan sebagai sesuatu yg harus diselesaikan (dipecahkan), karena masalah yang menimpa sesorang bila dibiarkan berkembang dan tidak segera dipecahkan dapat mengganggu kehidupan, baik dirinya sendiri maupun orang lain.

Post print in ISOL 3, Universitas Andalas, Padang. 2017.This study tries to analyze the dominance strategy of politeness used by authors in order to bring about solidarity and respect in selected economic journals. The corpus consists of 78.064 words from 12 different articles from one reputable Economic journal in the United States namely the Economic Growth Journal (EG). The data were taken from six years latest where this study conducted in 2012. The conceptual framework of the present study based on the politeness theory by Brown and Levinson (1978) alongside the application onto scientific writing by Myers (1989) and persuasive tactics proposed by Mulholland (1994). This study calculated in a total of 591 times the authors employ the tactics in order to maintain solidarity and respect in their articles. Positive politeness strategies seem to be the highest frequency (258 times) than the other 3 strategies. The data also reveals that EG authors have used 8 tactics in this strategy and it seems the 3 most used tactics was; by using in-group identity marker (62 times), using an in-group pronoun (59 times), and by informing readers about their research (40 times). This study clearly sees that the strategies and tactics employed by the authors in EG journal has a purposes to bring about solidarity and respect used by EG authors in their articles somehow used to reach the demands of the academic discourse community that expects scientific language to be objective and formal however not losing its intimacy with the economic community members and this is seems in line with the nature of positive politeness strategies.

Bør arbejdspladsvurderinger (APV) offentliggøres? Efter en konceptuel introduktion til evaluativ information i lyset af begreber som situerethed, relevans, kodifi cering og cirkulation præsenteres i artiklen nogle empiriske resultater fra en ny undersøgelse af APV i den offentlige sektor i Danmark. På det grundlag argumenteres for, at offentliggørelse af APV vil fremme en bedre implementering af den eksisterende lovgivning, gøre det muligt at identifi cere arbejdspladser med særskilt store arbejdsmiljøproblemer, hjælpe med at sprede gode eksempler og styrke den demokratiske kontrol med arbejdsmiljøet.

What can be said about effect of an intervention without a control group? The lack of evaluative evidence is a long-standing problem for regulatory policies against work-related health and safety risks. The European Union Occupational Safety and Health Framework has been in operation for three decades and covers more than 200 million workers, but the most recent evaluation was inconclusive about the benefits generated by this framework. A theory-based evaluation focusing on mechanisms in combination with a design capturing within-intervention variations offers a way forward. The idea is to measure the prevalence of most likely mechanisms and their correlation with outcomes. This approach is illustrated in a large- N evaluation of the use of workplace assessments in the public sector in Denmark. The strengths and weakness of the workplace assessment legislation are assessed. It is shown how findings based on the presented approach contribute to the public debate about workplace assessments.

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a Gram-negative, opportunistic pathogen that commonly causes nosocomial pneumonia, urinary tract infection, and septicemia. Our recent work utilizing a murine model of respiratory tract infection with classical K. pneumoniae demonstrated leukocyte aggregates in the lungs of mice at 28 days postinfection. Here, we sought to characterize the composition and development of these structures. Histopathological analyses of murine lungs revealed immune cell clusters surrounding the pulmonary vasculature and airways by 14 days postinfection, resembling inducible bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue (iBALT). Further investigation of these structures demonstrated central B cell aggregates with concomitant dispersed T cells. At day 28 postinfection, these lymphoid clusters expressed germinal center markers and CXCL12, qualifying these structures as iBALT with nonclassical B cell follicles. Investigations in mutant mice revealed that those lacking B and/or T cells were not able to form fully defined iBALT structures, although some rudimentary B cell clusters were identified in mice lacking T cells. The longevity of K. pneumoniae-induced BALT was assessed for up to 120 days postinfection. Lymphoid aggregates significantly decreased in size and quantity by 90 days after K. pneumoniae infection; however, aggregates persisted in mice that were restimulated with K. pneumoniae every 30 days. Finally, infections of mice with an array of classical K. pneumoniae clinical isolates demonstrated that the development of these structures is a common feature of K. pneumoniae lung infection. Together, these data confirm that murine lungs infected with K. pneumoniae develop iBALT, which may play a role in pulmonary immunity to this troublesome pathogen.

This article explores medical assessments of the age of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum in Denmark, to show how, through the medical and bureaucratic aspects of the process, it serves as an imperialist technology of control, as those judged under 18 have greater protection in the asylum system. Since the biggest group of people who are age-estimated in Denmark are Afghans, the author looks at the relationship between Denmark and Afghanistan and draws on interviews with people who underwent the process. By connecting medical documents with biometric measurement in colonial contexts and the current expansion of biometric surveillance, the author argues that the collection of intrusive physical data from Afghan minors is to be understood as a colonial mapping of the body. The Danish Immigration Service’s age decision-making process articulates a form of administrative rule that works to depoliticise questions of dispossession and death, and is a form of colonial violence enabled by humanitarian discourse and law.

Ecosystem-based fisheries management seeks to expand upon the traditional one-stock fisheries management measures by internalizing the effects of fishing on marine ecosystems, and accounting for biological interactions among marine resources. The fact that marine resources provide multiple, often competing benefits, makes the accomplishment of these ecosystem-based fisheries management objectives highly complex. In this paper, we develop a dynamic bioeconomic model to analyze the ecological and economic interactions between fisheries and renewable habitat where the habitat provides multiple ecosystem services. Specifically, a single resource manager seeks to maximize co-benefits of fishery-habitat interactions when the habitat is an exploitable marine resource, but also a dwelling place for commercial fish, enhancing the growth of the fish stock and providing regulating ecosystem services in the form of carbon sink for climate change mitigation. The optimal management rules for both fishery and habitat are derived and discussed. We also present an application of the model to analyze an integrated management of coastal cod and kelp forests in Norway, where regulations on commercial harvesting of kelp forests seek to protect fisheries. Both the theoretical model and the Norwegian application suggest substantial potential increases for both coastal cod and kelp forest stocks, with an attendant 8% increase in cod harvests, and about 1% reduction in kelp harvests. In addition, an optimal management regime that internalizes carbon sink co-benefits of kelp forests stores additional 300,000 tonnes of carbon.

While the ideal of ever-more systematic evaluation is cherished in the European Union (EU) and elsewhere, it remains difficult to provide robust evaluation results when evaluability is low. This paper uses evaluability assessment as a theoretical–analytical tool to explore the policy/evaluation interface in a contemporary context characterized by multilevel governance. What is the political function of (low) evaluability? This article comprises a case study of a policy instrument, workplace assessments, which have taken place for the last 30 years under Danish legislation as a consequence of EU framework directive 89/391 on occupational health and safety. The study includes a review of the most recent EU evaluation of the above-mentioned framework directive, other documents, and preliminary survey results. The official evaluation results are meagre due to seven underlying challenges to evaluability found at various levels of governance. The relatively low political priority given to occupational health and safety as a policy area may help explain why little has been done over three decades to increase the evaluability of the policy instruments prescribed by the framework directive. Low evaluability contributes to keeping a policy area free from potential contestation, especially in a normative context where evaluative evidence is a precondition for rational policy change.

An important motivation for the institutionalization of evaluation culture in countries around the world is the belief that accountability and transparency will thereby be enhanced. We subject this narrative about evaluation’s contribution to good governance to empirical analysis. We also argue that the meaning and relevance of this general narrative differs across national contexts. We build on data from a systematic assessment of evaluation culture in 19 countries (Jacob et al., 2015), add one country using the same systematic approach, and combine these findings with an indicator of transparency in government provided by Transparency International. We find a positive correlation between evaluation culture and transparency, and discuss threats to a causal interpretation hereof. We go into depth with two particular countries at either end of the transparency scale. We argue that the meaning of the link between evaluation culture and transparency differs whether the chosen perspective is generally comparative or situated in particular national, historical, and political contexts. In countries where transparency is high already, there might be diminishing marginal returns on evaluation, at least regarding its contribution to accountability and transparency.

Nordic surface waters are currently much browner than during the 1980s due to drivers related to decreased acid deposition, and increased precipitation. While upward trends in concentration of DOC have been well documented, positive trends in the annual export of DOC are not as widespread. The variation in seasonality of DOC export may mask long-term trends in annual export. A large dataset of 30 natural headwater catchments from Finland, Norway, and Sweden contains more than 20 years of discharge and DOC records. We will use these data to better quantify the trends of DOC export and their relationships to seasonality and the effects of climatic changes seen over the last few decades, such as diminished snowpack, less distinct snowmelt events and increases in autumn precipitation. We will investigate both the seasonal and annual relationships between DOC concentration and discharge (C-Q) and test if they relate to time and catchment characteristics such as size, latitude, and landcover.We explore 3 hypotheses in this data set. First, spring DOC export is decreased due to less distinct snowmelt and runoff events while autumn export of DOC is increased as a consequence of more autumn runoff. Second, we propose that catchments with a longer or more distinct snow cover period are more sensitive than catchments at lower elevation or latitude due to the length of inactivity caused by low temperatures and a more defined snowmelt runoff event. Third, we hypothesize the negative C-Q relationship in winter and spring is likely due to source limitation and dilution while hydrologic controls in summer and autumn are associated with positive C-Q relationships.Climate change is promoting enhanced export of DOC from soils towards surface waters, leading to more carbon processed and transported along the aquatic continuum from headwaters to coast. This data set gives us an opportunity to look at a diverse set of headwater catchments in the Nordic region, an area disproportionally affected by climate change, to clarify the hydrologic components and how this will affect overall carbon transport.

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-evi-10.1177_1356389020980469 for How and how well do workplace assessments work? Using contextual variations in a theory-based evaluation with a large N by Peter Dahler-Larsen, Anna Sundby and Adiilah Boodhoo in Evaluation

Klebsiella pneumoniae (Kp) is a versatile pathogen capable of causing numerous infections that are becoming increasingly difficult to treat due to increasing antibiotic resistance. Kp strains are categorized into two distinct pathotypes: classical and hypervirulent, which exhibit critical differences in pathogenesis. Despite causing the majority of clinical cases, adaptive immunity resulting from classical Kp infections is poorly understood. Our laboratory has recently developed a model of adaptive immunity to live infection with classical Kp in which wild-type mice surviving primary infection are protected from morbidity and mortality upon rechallenge. Passive transfer of convalescent serum from surviving mice to naïve recipients does not confer protection against cKp infection, suggesting antibody responses alone are inadequate to protect against cKp. CD69+CD4+ T cells and γδ T cells expand dramatically in the lung following primary cKp infection and mice deficient in T cells are not protected from reinfection, indicating a requirement for T cells in the protective response. Further analysis of mice deficient in either classical αβ T cells or γδ T cells indicates that either T cell subset is capable of mediating protective immunity against Kp reinfection. Production of IL-17A by both CD4 and γδ T cells is enhanced during secondary infection. Together these data indicate that a natural course of infection with classical Kp elicits populations of classical T cells and γδ T cells that mediate protection against reinfection, likely through the rapid production of IL-17A. These results will ultimately inform rational design of vaccines and immunotherapies to prevent and treat Kp infection. Supported by AAI Careers in Immunology Fellowship

Klebsiella pneumoniae represents a growing clinical threat, given its rapid development of antibiotic resistance, necessitating new therapeutic strategies. Existing live-infection models feature high mortality rates, limiting their utility in the study of natural adaptive immune response to this pathogen. We developed a preclinical model of pneumonia with low overall mortality, in which previously exposed mice are protected from subsequent respiratory tract challenge with K. pneumoniae. Histologic analyses of infected murine lungs demonstrate lymphocytic aggregates surrounding vasculature and larger airways. Initial exposure in RAG1 knockout mice (lacking functional B and T cells) failed to confer protection against subsequent K. pneumoniae challenge. While administration of isolated K. pneumoniae capsule was sufficient to provide protection, we also found that initial inoculation with K. pneumoniae mutants lacking capsule (Δcps), O-antigen (ΔwecA) or both conferred protection from subsequent wild-type infection and elicited K. pneumoniae-specific antibody responses, indicating that non-capsular antigens may also elicit protective immunity. Experiments in this model will inform future development of multivalent vaccines to prevent invasive K. pneumoniae infections., Summary: This novel mouse model of nonlethal pulmonary Klebsiella pneumoniae infection allows for the exploration of mechanisms required to mount a protective memory response to K. pneumoniae in the lung.

Keluarga sebagai pendidikan lingkungan adalah wadah pertama anak belajar bersosialisasi, dalam hal ini anak mulai belajar memahami aspek penting, salah satunya adalah menanamkan kebiasaan belajar kepada anak. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengungkapkan upaya orang tua dalam menanamkan kebiasaan belajar yang baik kepada siswa dalam hal di SMP Negeri 9 Pekanbaru, menyusun rencana belajar bersama anak, mendampingi dan membantu anak dalam belajar untuk tidak duduk sepanjang waktu, memberikan pujian kepada anak-anak, mengenali kekuatan anak-anak dalam belajar, membantu anak-anak untuk mengurangi kecemasan dan kebosanan dalam belajar. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian deskriptif, seluruh populasi siswa kelas VII, VIII, dan IX pada siswa di SMP Negeri 9 Pekanbaru dan sebanyak 664 sampel yang diperoleh 87 siswa. Temuan penelitian mengungkapkan upaya orangtua dalam menanamkan kebiasaan belajar yang baik terhadap siswa Pekanbaru sudah baik.

Contemporary policy strategies frame welfare technologies as a solution for welfare states facing the challenges of demographic change. Technologies are supposed to reduce or substitute the work of care workers and thereby reduce attrition among their ranks, reduce costs, and at the same make elderly people self-reliant and independent. In this paper, it is suggested that this way of framing how welfare technologies work with elderly people holds an instrumental view of technologies as well as of bodies and needs to be challenged. Drawing on an STS (Science Technology Studies) understanding of the constituting role of technology in people's lives, the guiding question in this study is how autonomy is practised in the lives of elderly people using welfare technologies. The study is based on interviews with eight elderly citizens in a Danish municipality who have been provided with a wash toilet and often also other technologies as part of their welfare service package. The study shows how autonomy is practised in various ways, how autonomy is practised in specific areas of life linked to the specific life story and body of the elderly citizen, how autonomy is situational as it is practised in specific situations during the day/week, and how autonomy is relational as it is practised in relation to specific persons and things and with specific persons and things. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the implementation of welfare technology as well as forms of governance appropriate for embodied elderly citizens and technologies. Contemporary policy strategies frame welfare technologies as a solution for welfare states facing the challenges of demographic change. Technologies are supposed to reduce or substitute the work of care workers and thereby reduce attrition among their ranks, reduce costs, and at the same make elderly people self-reliant and independent. In this paper, it is suggested that this way of framing how welfare technologies work with elderly people holds an instrumental view of technologies as well as of bodies and needs to be challenged. Drawing on an STS (Science Technology Studies) understanding of the constituting role of technology in people's lives, the guiding question in this study is how autonomy is practised in the lives of elderly people using welfare technologies. The study is based on interviews with eight elderly citizens in a Danish municipality who have been provided with a wash toilet and often also other technologies as part of their welfare service package. The study shows how autonomy is practised in various ways, how autonomy is practised in specific areas of life linked to the specific life story and body of the elderly citizen, how autonomy is situational as it is practised in specific situations during the day/week, and how autonomy is relational as it is practised in relation to specific persons and things and with specific persons and things. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the implementation of welfare technology as well as forms of governance appropriate for embodied elderly citizens and technologies.

Dominant research evaluation systems potentially lead to a homogenization of research. A focus on the total number of citations or journal impact factors can motivate researchers in non-English contexts to publish in English only. Efforts to publish in languages other than English run the risk of becoming ‘lost science’. The purpose of this article is to offer an indicator, the PLOTE-index, which measures the percentage of citations flowing from the non-English publications of a researcher or a group of researchers. If the spread of citations over language areas is measured, it becomes visible. Only then can it be analyzed, debated, and evaluated. In a feasibility study, PLOTE scores are calculated for 40 professors in political science in Denmark. The relation between the PLOTE-index and total number of citations is discussed. Variations across subfields are demonstrated and discussed, as well as a decline in PLOTE scores over time. The potential use of the PLOTE-index in research policy, research evaluation, strategy-making, and recruitment is discussed, as well as future developments of the index.

This community service is based on the needs of the teachers at Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (MI) Al-Barokah Pekanbaru in improving and enriching their knowledge about English Language Learning Strategy. Based on the needs analysis, most the teachers at the school feel that their knowledge about teaching strategy is still less, therefore their knowledge should be improved more. Based on this thing, the team needs to conduct workshop which aims at improving as well as enriching the teachers knowledge towards teaching strategy by using Word Chain Game. This activity done in one day which has been divided into 2 sessions. In the first session, the teachers were provided with the knowledge of Word Chain Game. Then, in the second session the teachers were asked to apply the strategy based on the previous explanation. After conducting the workshop, it can be stated that the teachers are able to understand well the implementation of Word Chain Game, and they are able to apply it in the teaching and learning process.

We evaluated the long-term safety and efficacy of once daily oral solifenacin suspension in children (5 to less than 12 years old) and adolescents (12 to less than 18 years old) with overactive bladder.We conducted a 40-week, open label extension of a 12-week double-blind, placebo controlled trial. Outcome measures included incidence and severity of adverse events (primary end point), laboratory variables, vital signs, 12-lead electrocardiogram, post-void residual volume, and change from baseline to end of treatment in mean number of micturitions and incontinence episodes per 24 hours, number of incontinence-free days per 7 days and number of grade 3 or 4 urgency episodes per 24 hours (adolescents only).A total of 119 children and 29 adolescents were enrolled in the study. The incidence of drug related treatment emergent adverse events was 34.7% (children) and 37.9% (adolescents), the most common of which were constipation (11.9%), electrocardiogram QT prolonged (8.5%) and dry mouth (4.2%) in children, and electrocardiogram QT prolonged (13.8%) and nausea (6.9%) in adolescents. Adverse events resulted in 10.2% (children) and 13.8% (adolescents) of participants discontinuing treatment. There were no cases of urinary retention or increases in post-void residual volume and no clinically relevant changes in laboratory variables or vital signs. Two cases of dizziness but no other central nervous system drug related treatment emergent adverse events were reported. Improvements in all efficacy parameters and grade 3 or 4 urgency episodes observed by 3 weeks were further improved and/or maintained during the study.Once daily solifenacin oral suspension was well tolerated for up to 52 weeks in children 5 to less than 12 years old and adolescents 12 to less than 18 years old diagnosed with overactive bladder, with constipation and electrocardiogram QT prolonged as the most common adverse reactions, respectively. Improvements in efficacy at 3 weeks were sustained during the study.

As theory-based evaluation (TBE) engages in situations where multiple stakeholders help develop complex program theory about dynamic phenomena in politically contested settings, it becomes difficult to develop and use program theory without ambiguity. The purpose of this article is to explore ambiguity as a fruitful perspective that helps TBE face current challenges. Literatures in organization theory and political theory are consulted in order to cultivate the concept of ambiguity. Janus variables (which work in two ways) and other ambiguous aspects of program theories are classified and exemplified. Stances towards ambiguity are considered, as are concrete steps that TBE evaluators can take to identify and deal with ambiguity in TBE.

Should the public sector become more like the private sector? This is a key question in debates about public management. However, the public/private distinction includes many elements. Two of these are ownership and competition. These aspects are not always sorted out empirically. Another challenge is that dissimilar functional areas are studied which makes it difficult to isolate effects of privatization as such. We respond to these challenges by carrying out an empirical analysis of job satisfaction among teachers who teach Danish to immigrants. The teachers work in comparable schools, carry out the same task, and are subject to the same performance management system, but some of the schools are public, some are private, and some have been subject to competitive tendering. We demonstrate that competition has a greater impact than ownership upon job satisfaction. We also show that one of the key mechanisms which translate competition into reduced job satisfaction relates to changing relations between managers and employees. Advocates and opponents of privatization alike should pay more attention to specific aspects and mechanisms related to privatization, in particular the element of competition.

Background and aims Patient-reported outcome measures are increasingly important in healthcare. European guidelines have recommended inclusion of patient feedback to capture adverse events due to colonoscopy, but this is rarely implemented. Methods The Norwegian Quality Assurance network for endoscopy (Gastronet) collects patient-reported outcome for colonoscopies. Free-text comments on patient reports from January to December 2015 were characterized as positive or negative. All negative free-text comments were scrutinized for information that might suggest colonoscopy-related adverse events. We identified severe adverse events with and without admission to hospital. Results We included 16 552 outpatient colonoscopies performed at 21 hospitals. A total of 11 248 procedures (68 %) were accompanied by a patient feedback report, of which 2628 (23 %) had free-text comments (2196 [20 %] characterized as positive and 432 [3.8 %] as negative). These negative free texts on patient reports revealed 15 post-colonoscopy hospital admissions due to adverse events that had not been registered in the colonoscopy report. This increased the number of hospital admissions caused by adverse events from 3 (0.03 %) to 18 (0.16 %). In addition, there were 14 patient reports of severe events without hospital admission. Therefore, a total of 29 severe adverse events reported by patients were missed by conventional documentation in the colonoscopy form. Conclusion It is feasible to implement patient feedback as routine reporting to capture the full picture of colonoscopy-related adverse events. Some patients experience significant complications that are not recorded through any registries. Patient feedback forms should be tailored to capture adverse events after colonoscopy that are otherwise not easily disclosed.

Background: A recent study of African evaluations identified deficiencies in present evaluation practices. Due to limited public sector expertise for the design of policy impact evaluations, expertise for such complex designs is largely external to the public sector. Consequently, recommendations made sometimes pay insufficient attention to variations in local contexts. Objectives: The bold idea presented in this article is that theory-based evaluation (TBE) in its most recent participatory versions offers promising opportunities towards more flexible epistemology. When properly tweaked, tuned and adapted to local needs and demands in African contexts, better theory-based evaluations are possible. Method: Three TBE-inspired criteria for better evaluations are suggested. The usefulness of including broad perspectives in theory-making was illustrated with a recent policy example, that is, the provision of tablets to school children in South Africa. Results: A model of collaborative theory-making is presented. The pros and cons of the proposed hybrid model are discussed. Conclusion: Recent trends in TBE point towards more participation of stakeholders in the theory-making process and towards more flexible epistemologies. The proposed innovation of TBE may have broader implications and serve as a promising inspiration for better evaluation practices in African contexts, given that existing research has demonstrated a need for such visions.

Given the centrality of the concept of quality and the complexities related to it, which I described in the introduction, it is surprising how little the history of the concept of quality is discussed—how often it is completely neglected, in fact.

This chapter analyzes the sociopolitical implications of quality. My assertion is that we live in times where quality without democracy is becoming increasingly pertinent.

​Dette er sluttrapport i evalueringen av den nasjonale rektorutdanningen i perioden fra 2015 til 2019. I rapporten følger vi opp mange av de samme resultatene fra de to delrapportene fra 2017 og 2018, særlig deltagerundersøkelsen som hvert kull har mottatt ved starten og i etterkant av utdanningen. Den kvantitative undersøkelsen inkluderer også kontrollutvalg. Den kvalitative undersøkelsen omfatter et utvalg case-skoler med tre besøk over tid og analyser av intervjudata samlet inn fra skoleledere, lærere og skoleeiere. I tillegg har vi gjennomført intervjuer med to av tilbyderne, og samlet inn skriftlige sluttoppgaver fra et utvalg deltakere​.

The previous chapter made clear that the concept of quality itself is spacious enough to embrace a wide variety of perspectives. Furthermore, within a given perspective, no one can guarantee that (the social construction of) quality remains stable and fixed. This chapter is concerned with how quality inscriptions take place, who makes them, and what the consequences of quality inscriptions are.