Michael Scriven and “The Missing Half of Quantitative Evaluation”

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Published: Jun 21, 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56645/jmde.v20i47.1007
Keywords:
costs, cost analysis, cost-inclusive evaluation (CIE), Cost-benefit analysis, Cost-Effectiveness Analysis (CEA), economic evaluation, Michael Scriven

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Brian Yates
Department of Psychology, American University, Washington, DC United States
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0555-6393
Nadini Persaud
Sagicor Cave Hill School of Business and Management, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus Barbados, W.I.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1827-2867

Abstract

Although Michael Scriven is one of the most recognized parents of program evaluation in general, it may be surprising to learn that he also was a founder of cost-inclusive evaluation (CIE) in particular. CIE incorporates into evaluations information on the amounts, types, and monetary values of resources used by programs to achieve outcomes, and, increasingly, the monetary value of those outcomes (Herman et al., 2009; Persaud & Yates, 2023; Yates, 1996). Michael Scriven blazed a trail toward routine use of cost, cost-effectiveness, and cost-benefit analyses by emphasizing that evaluations should measure costs as well as nonmonetary and monetary outcomes, and should compare costs and outcomes for alternative programs in cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analyses. Scriven also was emphatic that CIE be recognized as a core evaluator competency. Noting that “cost analysis” in evaluation was “the missing half of quantitative evaluation” (Scriven, 2008a, p. iii), he did not immediately succeed in convincing most evaluators that program costs, and monetary program outcomes, were essential to assess. However, his publications, his supervision, and his encouragement of junior colleagues legitimized and recognized CIE as nothing else could.

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How to Cite
Yates, B., & Persaud, N. (2024). Michael Scriven and “The Missing Half of Quantitative Evaluation”. Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation, 20(47), 24–27. https://doi.org/10.56645/jmde.v20i47.1007
Issue
Vol. 20 No. 47 (2024): Special Issue: Remembering Michael Scriven
Section
In Memoriam
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Author Biographies

Brian Yates, Department of Psychology, American University, Washington, DC United States

Brian Yates is a tenured Professor at American University, Washington DC. Most of his 104 publications, including 6 books, apply cost-effectiveness or cost-benefit analyses to formative evaluation of health and human services, including as youth mentoring and parent training initiatives, prevention and treatment of substance abuse, computer-based cognitive-behavioral therapy for alcohol abuse, suicide prevention, and treatments for obesity, depression, and seasonal affective disorder. Dr. Yates also teaches online asynchronous courses in self-management, personality theories, and health psychology, having also developed and taught traditional-format courses in community psychology, behavioral medicine, advanced theories of personality, research methods, and program evaluation.

Nadini Persaud, Sagicor Cave Hill School of Business and Management, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus Barbados, W.I.

Dr. Nadini Persaud Lecturer in Project Management and Evaluation

Dr. Nadini Persaud is a Lecturer in Project Management, Project Evaluation, and Accounting in the Sagicor Cave Hill School of Business and Management, and Deputy Dean, Research and Innovation and Entrepreneurship. She is the Programme Co-ordinator for MSc. Project Management and Evaluation, and was instrumental in restructuring the programme to meet the certification criteria of the USA based Project Management Institute (PMI).

Dr. Persaud brings a wealth of project management experience to the classroom having worked as a Project Officer with the Economic Planning, Project Coordination and Social Policy Development Unit, Ministry of Finance, Planning & Development, Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. She also worked on several evaluation projects in the United States whilst doing her doctoral studies in the United States.

Dr. Persaud serves on a number of international boards including Director, Training and Professional Development, Caribbean Evaluators International, Council Member, Chartered Professional Accountants Canada—Barbados Chapter Advisory Council, and the 3F Advisory Committee of the Faster Forward Fund, a private US-based foundation established by the late Professor Michael Scriven (one of the three founding fathers of the discipline of project evaluation) to accelerate the theory, practice, and profession of evaluation, She has also served in several positions on the American Evaluation Association including Program Chair of the Costs, Effectiveness, Benefits and Economics Topical Interest Group, and Chair of the Finance Advisory Board (2014, 2019).

She is the co-author of three books, the most recent being 'Cost-Inclusive Evaluation: Planning It, Doing It, Using It (2023) with Professor Brian Yates of the USA. A citizen of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Persaud loves spending time with family. Her hobbies include photography and arts and craft.

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