I’ve just read Ernie House’s book, Regression to the Mean.  It is a NOVEL about evaluation politics.  A publishers review says, “Evaluation politics is one of the most critical, yet least understood aspects of evaluation. To succeed, evaluators must grasp the politics of their situation, lest their work be derailed. This engrossing novel illuminates the politics and ethics of evaluation, even as it entertains. Paul Reeder, an experienced (and all too human) evaluator, must unravel political, ethical, and technical puzzles in a mysterious world he does not fully comprehend. The book captures the complexities of evaluation politics in ways other works do not. Written expressly for learning and teaching, the evaluation novel is an unconventional foray into vital topics rarely explored.”

Many luminaries (Patton, Lincoln, Scriven, Weiss) made pre-publication comments. Although I found the book fascinating, I found the quote that is included attributed to Freud compelling.  That quote is, “The voice of the intellect is a soft one, but it does not rest until it has gained a hearing.  Ultimately, after endless rebuffs, it succeeds.  This is one of the few points in which we can be optimistic about the future of mankind (sic).”  Although Freud wasn’t speaking about evaluation, House contends that this statement applies, and goes on to say, “Sometimes you have to persist against your emotions as well as the emotions of others.  None of us are rational.”

So how does rationality fit into evaluation. I would contend that it doesn’t. Although the intent of evaluation is to be objective, none of us can be because of what I called personal and situational bias; what is known in the literature as cognitive bias. I contend that if one has cognitive bias (and everyone does) then that prevents us from being rational, try as we might. Our emotions get in the way. House’s comment (above) seems fitting to evaluation–evaluators must persist against personal emotions as well as emotions of others. I would add persists against personal and situational bias. I believe it is important to make explicit the personal and situational bias prior to commencing an evaluation. By clarifying assumptions that occur with the stakeholders and the evaluator, surprises are minimized, and the evaluation may be more useful to program people.