This paper describes some of the dilemmas of integrating conflict resolution and evaluation, and illustrates how these dilemmas might profitably be addressed. Action Research and Evaluation . This paper offers a brief description of the Snyder evaluation process, a process which combines process, outcome, and short-cycle evaluation. Some of the elements which are to be found in the Snyder process have their origins in action research and action science, especially as a source of flexibility and responsiveness which nevertheless allows high standards of rigor. Conflict management processes and concepts also find a place, providing a dialectic technique for using disagreement as a catalyst for deepening understanding.
Systems concepts provide a framework for categorizing information.
Similarities between the Snyder process, Action Evaluation, and the ARIA technique of conflict resolution are identified. A wide range of program and policy sectors use empowerment evaluation, including substance abuse prevention, HIV prevention, crime prevention, welfare reform, battered women's shelters, agriculture and rural development, adult probation, adolescent pregnancy prevention, tribal partnership for substance abuse, self-determination and individuals with disabilities, doctor programs, and accelerated schools. Empowerment evaluation is the use of evaluation concepts, techniques, and findings to foster improvement and self-determination. It employs both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Although it can be applied to individuals, organizations, communities, and societies or cultures, the focus is usually on programs.