Involving judgment about the value, quality, significance, or worth of something. Focuses on assessment and appraisal rather than neutral description or explanation.
From French 'évaluer' (to evaluate), from 'é-' (out) + 'valuer' (to value), ultimately from Latin 'valere' (to be worth). The systematic sense of structured assessment developed in the 20th century with advances in educational and social program evaluation.
Evaluative thinking is unavoidable - even when we claim to be objective, our choice of what to measure, how to measure it, and what counts as 'good' reveals hidden value judgments that shape our conclusions!
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