Introduction to the Series

The primary objective of this series is to provide evaluators with the capability to apply constructs from Complexity Science to evaluation practice. This objective is bookended with two others. The first is to give evaluators a broad conceptual understanding of Complexity. The other is to provide an appreciation of how Complexity can influence how we conceptualize pattern, predictability, and the reasons for change. Our intention is to accomplish the primary goal within each case that is presented. The “bookended” goals will be achieved over time, as readers see the relevance of complexity in multiple cases.

This series will present cases based on examples drawn from ongoing or recently concluded evaluations. Each installment will present the case and then discuss how that work might be expanded or reinterpreted if constructs from Complexity Science were applied. For the sake of exposition each case will include only a few…