Comment on Evaluation is Not Applied Research by Quinn Mitchell

Dr. Wazer,

Thank you for your blog and for your interview with Dr. Pann on YouTube regarding your research; I found it very interesting. I am also a grad student at ASU studying Learning Design and Technology. Like Kerry, I found the hourglass illustration very helpful in distinguishing the very real differences between research and evaluation. While the methods of analysis may be the same, the purpose and outcomes are different. I appreciate your distinction concerning value judgments. In my last evaluation course, we discussed the ethics regarding evaluation and the importance of transparency. While evaluation has very real commercial applications, the research you describe seems to be purely academic. How might the differences between evaluation and research change when research is more commercial in nature? How does research change if there are stakeholders involved?

Thank you, Quinn