Evaluation: The Development of RUFDATA c/o Saunders (2000)

Evaluation (activity)

The Development of RUFDATA

"Approaches that are high in ‘fidelity’ are not appropriate for complex, dispersed organizations. In other words, an approach which depends heavily on the precise specification and performance of its various components in order for it to work at local level will be subverted, understood as a necessary evil or even resented as a tool of surveillance and control. What is required is an approach that is low in fidelity. The metaphor of a ‘framework’ is therefore apt. A framework should provide a generic context for action in which some recognizable shaping characteristics are evident but within the shape a wide range of actions is possible (p.15). ...

RUFDATA is an acronym for the procedural decisions that would shape evaluation activity. The letters of the acronym stand for the following:

reasons and purposes; 

uses; 

focus; 

data and evidence; 

audience; 

timing; 

agency." (p.15)

Saunders, M. (2000). Beginning an Evaluation with RUFDATA: Theorizing a Practical Approach to Evaluation Planning. Evaluation, 6(1), 7-21.

Ack: Dr B. Bligh.