Performing Subjectivist Studies in the Qualitative Traditions Responsive to Users

Abstract

According to the typology of evaluation approaches introduced in Chapter 2 and based on the work of House, four different approaches fall under the subjectivist tradition: quasi-legal, art criticism, professional review, and responsive/illuminative. This chapter will focus on the last of the four approaches: the subjectivist tradition that is responsive to the multiple stakeholders engaged in any evaluation activity. This is a particularly apt approach for evaluating biomedical informatics projects and information resources, since the success of these efforts most often depends on understanding and meeting the needs of the resource developers, the end users, and other important constituencies that inevitably are engaged in these complex undertakings.