The Joint Committee’s 1994 definition states that “evaluation is the systematic assessment of
the worth or merit of an object” (p. 3). Advantages of this definition are that it is concise
and consistent with common dictionary meanings of evaluation. We see this as the definition
to use when discussing evaluation at a general level. Notably, some alternative definitions of
evaluation often also include significance, resulting in a formal definition of evaluation as the
act or process of determining the merit, worth, or significance of something or the product of
that process (Davidson, 2005; Scriven, 1991).