Toward a Platinum Standard for Evidence-Based Assessment by 2020

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Khagram, Sanjeev; Thomas, Craig W.
• 署名单位: University of Washington; University of Washington Seattle
• 刊物名称: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-3352
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6210.2010.02251.x
• 发表日期: 2010
• 页码: S100-S106
• 关键词: impact evaluation; performance; part

摘要

The authors argue for a scientifically rigorous, contextually valid, practically relevant, and stakeholder-inclusive Platinum Standard for evidence-based assessment to improve public administration and third-parry governance in the twenty-first century. The Platinum Standard would encompass two contending gold standards. The first gold standard, based on experimental methods, counterfactuals, and average causal effects, is better known and more institutionalized in practice. The second gold standard, based on case studies, comparative method, triangulation, and causal mechanisms, is less known. The Platinum Standard incorporates both sets of standards and provides a framework for integrating them in practice. It recognizes the wide array of goals and methodologies that are appropriate for assessing the performance of public administration and third-party governance initiatives in a dynamic and globalizing world. The two gold standards currently compete for prominence in the field of evidence-based assessment. By 2020, these gold standards should be part of a more inclusive Platinum Standard.