I had read my friend’s status a few days back (of course on FB) and she mentioned a few academic scholars that she respected. I didn’t recognise any except that I’ve heard of Gero’s name somewhere…Anyhow, one of the `guru’ respected by Western scholars in research and evaluation in the humanities and social sciences is Michael Q. Patton (Prof). I came across his name while writing for my Chapter 3 (Research Design- currently still in a draft format) and googled it on Science Direct. The article I read informed me that he preferred a `kinder and gentler’ approach to evaluation practices. I personally believe that we really need kindness in this world. In fact our beloved Prophet Muhammad s.a.w was known to be a kind, gentle and firm in his decisions and principles but always based on petunjuk dan suruhan Allah s.w.t . the Almighty.
Anyway back to Dr. Michael Patton, I thought his answer to the question of what makes a researcher (or in my mind- any Muslim professional for that matter) competent is so clear, straight to the point yet comprehensive. Here is the extract :
Thinking about your comments to the previous questions, what do you feel are the main skills or competencies that evaluators need to have or develop in order to keep pace with emerging trends?
…To answer your question, evaluators need to be not only methodologically competent, they also need to be skilled at situational analysis, bring cultural sensitivities to their work, be politically sophisticated about the ways in which data and methods are used in the knowledge age, and understand how evaluation intersects with politics at all levels. Also, evaluators need to be very good communicators and facilitators, at least if they are doing utilization-focused evaluation and aiming to work with families and community members in mutually respectful and helpful ways.
I took from http://www.hfrp.org/evaluation/the-evaluation-exchange/issue-archive/family-support/a-conversation-with-michael-quinn-patton
0 what are your thoughts?:
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