Current Practices and Perspectives of Open Science Among Evaluators

Abstract Information: Open science describes the practice of making research open for all by promoting transparency through reproducibility, replicability, and knowledge sharing (Kathawalla et al., 2021). Given the similarities between research and evaluation (Wanzer, 2021), the relevancy of open science values and processes already being discussed and practiced in research spaces should be explored for evaluation. Particularly when evaluation is viewed as a science (Patton, 2018), using systematic inquiry to investigate the evaluand, then evaluation may not be immune to some of the problems plaguing other scientific endeavors and therefore some of the proposed solutions within open science may be relevant for the field of evaluation.

This study examined the extent to which open science is relevant to evaluation work through asking evaluators about their knowledge, understanding, use, and barriers of open science practices in their evaluation work. Participants were AEA members who have practiced evaluation within the last year. Findings will focus on understanding the breadth and depth of open science within evaluation, and understand who is using open science practices under what conditions. This can inform future developments in open science within the field of evaluation.