Evaluation culture in Poland

Ewaluacja dostarcza informacji dotyczących oczekiwanych lub faktycznych efektów interwencji publicznej. Najważniejszym jej zadaniem jest wspieranie procesu decyzyjnego w administracji publicznej, czego docelowym efektem ma być poprawa jakości, skuteczności i spójności pomocy publicznej. Cel ten jest realizowany przez trzy główne funkcje ewaluacji: funkcję rozliczenia (egzekwowania odpowiedzialności), funkcję poznawczą oraz funkcję stymulowania usprawnień organizacyjnych. Wśród korzyści z przeprowadzania obiektywnej i ukierunkowanej oceny interwencji publicznej wymienia się: poprawę planowania, wdrażania i kontroli jakości, wspieranie procesu uczenia się instytucji, partnerstwa oraz poczucia współwłasności. Właśnie w trosce o zapewnienie tego typu korzyści płynących z poprawnie wykonanej ewaluacji wiele instytucji międzynarodowych dba o rozwój kultury ewaluacyjnej. Na podstawie badań przeprowadzonych przez Centrum Ewaluacji i Analiz Polityk Publicznych UJ można wskazać problematyczne z punktu widzenia rozwoju kultury ewaluacyjnej elementy typowe dla ewaluacji w polskich jednostkach administracji publicznej. Wśród tego typu barier najważniejsze to: 1) podejście do badań występujące u zleceniodawców tych badań, 2) sposób traktowania przez nich kryteriów ewaluacyjnych, 3) obowiązująca procedura zamówień publicznych oraz 4) brak reguł dotyczących odbioru raportów ewaluacyjnych.Evaluation as type of judgement aggregation specifi es expected or factual effects of a public intervention. The main goal of evaluation in public administration is to support decision-making processes and therefore increase the quality, effi ciency and coherence of public help. That aim is supported by three main functions of evaluation: the function of accountability (executing responsibility), the cognitive function and the function of improvement stimulation within an organization. Among the advantages of performing objective and specifi ed evaluations of public interventions one may name improvements in planning, implementing processes, improvements in quality control, supporting learning processes within institutions, strengthening the feelings of partnerships and joint ownership. For those among other reasons a number of international institutions (e.g. European Union) put emphasis on the development of evaluation culture. On the basis of the results of a project carried out by Centrum Ewaluacji i Analiz Polityk Publicznych UJ (The Center for Evaluation and Analysis of Public Policies) several elements occurring frequently in evaluations in Poland that may inhibit the development of evaluation culture have been identified. Those elements are the perception of evaluation among public administration workers, the way party ordering evaluations uses evaluation criteria, the existing procurement law and lack of rules concerning the reception of evaluation report

Użyteczność jako kryterium ewaluacji polityk publicznych.

Utility as a criterion of public policy evaluation In this article we will present the mistakes made both by ordering and executing side in understanding and defining the evaluation criterion of utility. We will discuss the problems with final use of this criterion in the Polish evaluation reports of EU Operational Programmes. The analysis will eventually show how important it is to understand ex post evaluation as measuring the adequacy of the program effects in targeting the needs of final users

Utility as a criterion of public policy evaluation

W niniejszym artykule zaprezentowane zostaną błędy w rozumieniu i definiowaniu kryterium ewaluacyjnego "użyteczność" w polskich raportach ewaluacyjnych, zarówno poprzez zamawiających badania, jak i je realizujących. Omówione zostaną problemy związane z badaniem i ostatecznym wykorzystaniem tego kryterium w ocenie końcowej. To wszystko ma uświadomić istotną rolę oceny ex post w świetle adekwatności efektów programów względem adresowanych potrzeb.In this article we will present the mistakes made both by ordering and executing side in understanding and defining the evaluation criterion of utility. We will discuss the problems with final use of this criterion in the Polish evaluation reports of EU Operational Programmes. The analysis will eventually show how important it is to understand ex post evaluation as measuring the adequacy of the program effects in targeting the needs of final users

Kultura ewaluacyjna w Polsce

Evaluation culture in Poland Evaluation as type of judgement aggregation specifies expected or factual effects of a public intervention. The main goal of evaluation in public administration is to support decision-making processes and therefore increase the quality, efficiency and coherence of public help. That aim is supported by three main functions of evaluation: the function of accountability (executing responsibility), the cognitive function and the function of improvement stimulation within an organization. Among the advantages of performing objective and specified evaluations of public interventions one may name improvements in planning, implementing processes, improvements in quality control, supporting learning processes within institutions, strengthening the feelings of partnerships and joint ownership. For those among other reasons a number of international institutions (e.g. European Union) put emphasis on the development of evaluation culture. On the basis of the results of a project carried out by Centrum Ewaluacji i Analiz Polityk Publicznych UJ (The Center for Evaluation and Analysis of Public Policies) several elements occurring frequently in evaluations in Poland that may inhibit the development of evaluation culture have been identified. Those elements are the perception of evaluation among public administration workers, the way party ordering evaluations uses evaluation criteria, the existing procurement law and lack of rules concerning the reception of evaluation report

Knowledge centers as an innovative knowledge transfer mechanism : lesson learned from the program implemented in Lesser Poland

The aim of the paper is to present the lessons learnt from the "SPIN" regional public project. The project was implemented in the region of Lesser Poland. The objective of the project was to increase the intensity of knowledge transfer from universities to enterprises. The goal was achieved by establishing four Centres for Knowledge Transfer at major universities. Each of them was dedicated to a specific domain of knowledge - regional smart specialization - biotechnology, translational medicine, smart grids and energy-saving buildings. The paper discusses the implementation and effects of the project. The most important conclusions stemming from the project concern the fact that the context of the implementation needs to be taken into account during the project as well as the importance of leadership. More attention should also be devoted to the motivation and skills of those involved in the implementation

Retirement and perceived social inferiority strongly link with health inequalities in older age : decomposition of a concentration index of poor health based on Polish cross-sectional data

Identifying mechanisms that generate and sustain health inequalities is a prerequisite for developing effective policy response, but little is known about factors contributing to health inequalities in older populations in post-transitional European countries such as Poland. Demographic aging of all populations requires new and deeper insights.; Data came from the Polish edition of the cross-sectional European Social Survey, Wave 6 (2012). Logistic regression was applied to identify socioeconomic factors relevant to self-assessed health in a population aged 45 or over. Decomposition of a concentration index provided information about the distribution of health-relevant demographics and social characteristics along a socioeconomic continuum, and their contributions to observed health inequalities.; Overall, 17.4 % of respondents aged 45 or over assessed their health as poor or very poor. Predictors of poor health included income insufficiency, disability or retirement, retirement, low social activity, and social position. A steep socioeconomic gradient in self-assessed health in Polish population was found. The primary contributor to the observed health inequality (as summarized by concentration index) was income, followed by labor market situation, particularly retirement. Self-assessed place in society contributed to overall inequality, scoring similarly to social activity. Contributions from age and education were moderate but non-significant, gender was negligible, and chronological aging explained neither poor health nor socioeconomic health inequalities.; Although elderly people represent a particularly vulnerable group, their disadvantages are associated with social rather than natural causes. Policies addressing health inequalities in aging populations must provide systemic opportunities for maintaining good health. Transitioning to retirement is a critical entry point for policy action that stimulates social engagement and maintains self-esteem of older people

Analytical Sociology as a Universal Research Programme Explaining Social Phenomena and Effective Policy Making

Wielość podejść teoretycznych w socjologii nie przekłada sic na moc wyjaśniającą tej dyscypliny, która często poprzestaje na opisie rzeczywistości społecznej w pewnych abstrakcyjnych kategoriach. Z krytyki tej słabości wyrasta postulat stosowania perspektywy socjologii analitycznej. Jest to program badawczy zakorzeniony w strukturalnym indywidualizmie metodologicznym. Zakłada on, że cechy zbiorowości wynikają ze złożenia cech budujących je jednostek, zakorzenionych jednak w strukturach społecznych. Ten program, w centrum uwagi stawiający pojęcie mechanizmu społecznego, umożliwia powiązanie sfery mikro- i makroaktywności człowieka i jej konsekwencji − nie tylko tych planowanych i nie tylko tych racjonalnych. Podejście socjologii analitycznej daje nadzieję na redukcję niepewności generowanej przez świat społeczny oraz jest obietnicą lepiej zbadanych i lepiej zaprojektowanych polityk publicznych.The abundance of theoretical approaches in sociology does not translate into explanatory potential of this discipline which nowadays too often finds mere description sufficient. The proposition of an "analytical sociology paradigm" stems from the disappointment with the indolence of sociology as a science unable to provide causal explanations. The paradigm is based on the concept of structural individualism and assumes that a characteristic of a collective can be derived from a set of characteristics of individuals which are mediated by the social structure. By setting "a social mechanism" as the central element of the explanatory process, this research programme effectively links micro and macrosphere of human activity and its consequences, regardless of whether they are planned or purposively rational. As such, "the analytical sociology" gives hope for a better, more accurate evaluation and design of public policies