Zeitschrift für Evaluation: Issue Forms and Systems of Evaluation Use

This article presents a systematic overview of international English-language research on the use of evaluation and draws conclusions for the German-language discussion. While North American research has developed theoretically sound concepts, systems, and forms of evaluation use since the 1960s, the German-language discourse remains fragmented. Based on an extensive literature review, 25 forms of use found in the literature are identified and condensed into 22 semantically equivalent forms. The results show the multidimensional nature of evaluation use and the central importance of clear conceptual distinctions. The analysis makes it clear that German-language research can benefit considerably from international developments, particularly with regard to the typology of use and the empirical orientation of studies.

Keywords
Evaluation use, systematics/forms, English-language usage research, German-language discourse