Thomas Schwandt
Dr Thomas A Schwandt is Professor and Chair, Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he also holds an appointment in the Department of Educational Policy Studies.
Thomas has given keynote speeches at evaluation conferences in the US and Europe. A keynote speech in 2008 to the American Evaluation Association conference addressed the issue of evaluation and its role in the wider society, which fits well with the planned theme for the 2010 conference. His address was published in the American Journal of Evaluation in June 2008.
He has published extensively on evaluation practice, and these include Evaluation Practice Reconsidered; Evaluating Holistic Rehabilitation Practice; Dictionary of Qualitative Inquiry, (authored with Edward Halpern); Linking Auditing and Meta-evaluation; Exploring Evaluator Role and Identity (co-editor with Katherine Ryan); Knowledge Production: The Work of Educational Research in Interesting Times (with Bridget Somekh); and Evaluating Educational Reforms: Scandinavian Perspectives (with Peder Haug).
In 2002 he received the Paul F Lazarsfeld Award from the American Evaluation Association for his contributions to evaluation theory. He is currently a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, the National Research Council’s Standing Committee on Social Science Evidence for Use.
Thomas’ scholarship is primarily focused on the intersection of social research and practical philosophy. His work is heavily influenced by the tradition of philosophical hermeneutics and the insights we can draw from that body of work for investigations into the practices of evaluation and research. These investigations include questions about the nature of human action, the nature of practice, the nature of understanding in the social/human sciences, the status and validity of the knowledge produced through evaluation and social research, the nature and role of expertise, the nature and role of dialogue and critical reflection in developing understanding, ethics of social scientific inquiry, the nature and status of evidence, and ways in which evidence is linked to claims.
For more information about Thomas visit the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign website.