Integrity

Integrity refers to ensuring honesty, transparency, and adherence to ethical behaviour by all those involved in the evaluation process.

Integrity is one of the guiding principles of the American Evaluation Association:

• C. Integrity: Evaluators behave with honesty and transparency in order to ensure the integrity of the evaluation.
  • C1. Communicate truthfully and openly with clients and relevant stakeholders concerning all aspects of the evaluation, including its limitations.
  • C2. Disclose any conflicts of interest (or appearance of a conflict) prior to accepting an evaluation assignment and manage or mitigate any conflicts during the evaluation.
  • C3. Record and promptly communicate any changes to the originally negotiated evaluation plans, that rationale for those changes, and the potential impacts on the evaluation's scope and results.
  • C4. Assess and make explicit the stakeholders', clients', and evaluators' values, perspectives, and interests concerning the conduct and outcome of the evaluation.
  • C5. Accurately and transparently represent evaluation procedures, data, and findings.
  • C6. Clearly communicate, justify, and address concerns related to procedures or activities that are likely to produce misleading evaluative information or conclusions. Consult colleagues for suggestions on proper ways to proceed if concerns cannot be resolved, and decline the evaluation when necessary.
  • C7. Disclose all sources of financial support for an evaluation, and the source of the request for the evaluation.