Meta-Evaluation as a Tool for Learning

Abstract

Meta-evaluation has many definitions. Some use it to describe aggregating information from several individual evaluations, others define it as a systematic tool for the quality control of evaluation studies. This article aims at elaborating the latter approach by introducing a more learning-oriented interpretation of the concept of meta-evaluation. In this sense, meta-evaluation should be part of an open dialogue between various parties in the evaluation process. Making evaluation as transparent as possible enhances the preconditions of organizational learning through meta-evaluation. The empirical basis for this article is a meta-evaluation study based on 15 midterm evaluations of European Structural Fund programmes in Finland. The article concludes that critical analysis of single evaluations serves both policy and organizational learning. By policy learning we refer to the mechanisms of knowledge dissemination in various policy arenas, and by organizational learning to continuous and reflexive evaluative inquiry.