Commentary on the article. "Objectivity under control", by Claire Vivès.

Summary In her article "L'objectivité sous contrôle : analyse d'une évaluation randomisée de programmes d'accompagnement des demandeurs d'emploi" (Objectivity under control: analysis of a randomized evaluation of job-seeker support programs), published in the 2019 issue, 60, 1, pp. 71-92 of the Revue française de sociologie, Claire Vivès analyzes the use by its sponsors (the ANPE, Unédic and the Ministry of Labor) of an evaluation that we conducted as researchers. Her thesis is that the implementation of a randomized evaluation gives rise to strategic behaviors on the part of the sponsors aimed at manipulating or controlling the results and their dissemination, which "modifies the reality observed". We agree with many aspects of this analysis, and there is no doubt that an evaluation, randomized or not, in a high-stakes political context induces such intentions on the part of institutions, and they are clearly illustrated and analyzed here.