Action evaluation and conflict resolution training: Theory, method and case study

Current efforts to develop an “appropriate technology” for evaluating conflict resolution methods, including conflict resolution training, are described. There is a need in conflict resolution for research and evaluation methods which are contextually sensitive to the setting, participants, content, and process of specific initiatives. This need parallels the idea of appropriate technology in third world development efforts, in which sensitivity to context and a great deal of local participation is sought to ensure that outside aid is truly wanted and helpful. Appropriate means of evaluating conflict resolution are still lacking; new methodologies consistent with, and even constitutive of, normative conflict resolution goals and values are required. The article describes and illustrates a process designed to bridge conflict resolution and evaluation, which is labeled “action-evaluation.”