Early in the 1970's when evaluators wanted to design studies that would capture some implementation or outcome features that were different or expensive to measure reliably on a large scale-for example, the way a large organization handled a complex innovation or the effect of an education program on motivation to learn or growth in self-confidence-they felt caught between risking considerable effort in trying to quantify qualitative variables and risking the criticism that they were ignoring really important things because they could not be measured.
Evaluators wanted to design studies that look at how an organization handles innovation.