The nature of explanation in qualitative evaluation

In recent years evaluation has mushroomed dramatically as a discipline. A number of evaluation "models" or approaches have been conceived, and varieties of social science methods have been employed serving several evaluative purposes. Missing from the health profession's literature on evaluation is a discussion of the underlying explanatory purposes of evaluative inquiry. It can be argued that systematic accounts of a logical inquiry (evaluation) are inextricably bound to particular views or accounts of the logic of explanation. In this article those accounts of explanation that pertain to conventional and qualitative evaluation are reviewed and compared. The article describes what one has "bought off on" when applying the explanatory rationale underlying qualitative evaluation approaches. Problems and possibilities are described for the practice of qualitative evaluation in the health professions.