Articles should deal with topics applicable to the broad field of program evaluation. Implications for practicing evaluators should be clearly identified. Examples of contributions include, but are not limited to, reviews of new developments in evaluation and descriptions of a current evaluation effort, research problem, or technique. Manuscripts should include appropriate references and not exceed 10 double-spaced typewritten pages in length. zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgf Mixed-Method Evaluation: Developing Quality Criteria through Concept Mapping zyxwvutsrqponmlk MIXED-METHOD COLLABORATION The views and opinions expressed here should not be construed to be the policy or position of the U.S. General Accounting Office. For the first phase of this ongoing project, Valerie J. Caracelli and Leslie J.C. Riggin contributed equally to writing this article. INTRODUCTION Major guides have been developed for evaluation practitioners to raise the quality of program evaluation and enable judgments about the quality of evaluations. Both the Evaluation Research Society (Rossi, 1982) and the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation (1994) have issued general standards for evaluation. In addition, the American Evaluation Association has drafted a set of guiding principles for the practice of evaluation. The general nature of these standards and principles can be viewed as both an advantage and disadvantage. On the one hand, the lack of specificity in many of the standards provides an ecumenical context in which opposing paradigmatic preferences can coexist in the conduct of evaluation research. On the other hand, generalities provide little guidance in the current call for synthesis (Cordray, 1993; Reichardt & Rallis, 1994) which focuses on how evidence from multiple perspectives is put together for the purpose of deriving a coherent assessment. Valerie J. Caracdli l U.S. General Accounting Office, Program Evaluation and Methodology Division, 441 G. Street, NW, Rm 5853, Washington, DC 20548; Leslk J.C. Rig& l USGAO/ PEMD, Denver Regional Office, 1244 Speer Boulevard, Suite 800, Denver, CO 80204. Evaluation Practke, Vol. IS, No. 2, 1994, pp. 139-152. Copyright @ 1994 by JAI Press, Inc. ISSN: 08861633 AU rights of reproduction in any form reserved. 139