Starting from the premise that administrators, program personnel, and social scientists are equally responsible for the conduct of evaluation, this paper addresses the legitimate role of evaluation research via discussion of: (1) the environment in which evaluation takes place; (2) types of evaluation designs; and (3) selection of an evaluation design for social action programs in rural development. Discussion of evaluation environment centers on the risks involved in evaluation research due to the current chasm between the administrator's desires and the researcher's requirements re: evaluation design. Types of evaluation presented are: (1) Field Experiment (determines the validity of a particular approach as a means of achieving a desired change or objective and/or instituting a workable program); (2) Systems Models (emphasis on increasing program effectiveness, rather than on success or failure); (3) Systems Output (Program impact, program strategy, project, and project rating evaluations); (4) Systems Input (context, input, process, and product evaluations). Selection of a ligitimate rural development evaluation design is described as necessitating formulation of: specific goals; precise activities which match the goals; and standards against which the program can be compared, paying particular attention to meshing the needs and requirements of administrators and evaluators. (JC)