Identifying the Implicit Guiding Principles of the Collaborative Crop Research Program: Expanding Principles-Focused, Developmental Evaluation

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to expand the theoretical and practical knowledge base for facilitating principles-focused, developmental evaluation. In particular, the research identified an analytical process that evaluation professionals can use to identify the implicit guiding principles of a program. The research focused on the Collaborative Crop Research Program (CCRP) from the McKnight Foundation. The researcher employed a multiple case study and cross-case analysis. All three cases focused on separate program developments to identify the implicit guiding principles of the CCRP that gave shape to the CCRP’s evaluation process called the Integrated Monitoring, Evaluation, and Planning (IMEP), CCRP’s guiding framework for agriculture research, Agroecological Intensification (AEI), and a CCRP capacity building initiative known as the Multi Environmental Trial Initiative (METI). Each case study used document review and qualitative interviews as the sources of data and identified the guiding principles that helped each program component emerge and develop. The cross-case analysis confirmed the 16 guiding principles of the CCRP and explored how the use of each principle varied across the three cases. The implications for identifying the implicit principles of a program are discussed.