For instance, we could relatively easily set up alternative sites or subsites with different content or delivery contexts that we could randomly assign users to use. Many of the nagging questions about how best to implement this new technology would best be addressed experimentally. We also need to examine the quasi-experimental comparisons that are critical. For example, the potential for important gender differences, and the implications these might have, warrant considerable evaluative effort. Finally, we have done very little in exploring the cost side of the web evaluation question.
Web technology is a seemingly inexpensive way to deliver large amounts of routine information.
The challenges of determining costs and of translating benefits into dollars are formidable but need to be addressed. As we move towards the close of the twentieth century it is apparent that the inception of web-based technology may be one of the more important legacies that we will collectively leave. Evaluating all of the phases involved in this technology as it is evolving may be the most important factor in enabling us to tell this story to successive generations. References Trochim, W. Reliability of Concept Mapping. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the American Evaluation Association, Dallas, Texas, November, 1993.