What is the difference between an evaluation research project that assumes a black box and one that seeks to develop a program theory? What are the advantages and disadvantages to each?

What will be an ideal response?

Black box evaluation--this type of evaluation occurs when an evaluation of program outcomes ignores, and does not identify, the process by which the program produced the effect; this allows a researcher to conduct a simple evaluation that tests an input/output model; however, it does not show that the program process actually effected the outcome of the participant; program theory--a descriptive or prescriptive model of how a program operates and produces effects; theory-driven evaluation--a program valuation that is guided by a theory that specifies the process by which the program has an effect; program theory, then, specifies how the program is expected to operate and identifies which program elements are operational; also, it specifies how a program is to produce its effects and so improves understanding of the relationship between the independent variable.