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Evaluierenevaluiertenevaluiert is a neologism used in evaluation studies to describe a recursive meta-evaluation process in which the act of evaluating itself is subjected to evaluation and re-evaluation, continuing across levels of analysis.

Etymology: the term combines the German verb evaluieren, its past participle evaluiert, and the repeated root evalu-, producing a compound that signals multi-layered assessment.

Concept: It denotes a methodological stance where criteria, methods, data quality, and interpretations are continually scrutinized to ensure validity and reliability of the evaluation process itself, not just of the program under study.

Process: typical approach includes planning a meta-evaluation plan, pre-registering evaluation questions, applying evaluation methods, critiquing the methods' assumptions, updating criteria, and re-applying evaluations; maintain audit trails, transparency, and triangulation to avoid circular justifications.

Applications: used in education assessment design, public policy evaluation, project management, and quality assurance systems to guard against method bias and to improve evaluative soundness.

Criticism: can become resource-intensive or lead to methodological overkill if not bounded; requires clear stopping rules and reflexive safeguards to avoid stagnation or bias in meta-evaluation.

See also: meta-evaluation, reflexivity in research, evaluation framework, quality assurance, program evaluation.