Accreditation processes and the agencies responsible for implementing
them must be evaluated to ensure that the accreditation
mechanisms are functioning effectively, efficiently and equitably.
There is considerable empirical research on accreditation processes
(e.g. Kells 1976; Kells & Kirkwood 1979; Pigge, 1979; Romine 1979;
Trout 1979; Engdahl 1981; Anderson 1987; Robinson-Weening 1994;
McMurthie 2001; Phillips, Song, & Tom 2001). Accreditation plays a
role in fostering diversity (Shawen 1983) and in protecting academic
freedom (Elman 1994).