What's the difference between a "black-box" evaluation and "theory-drive" evaluation?

A black box evaluation is a type of assessment which focuses solely on the outcomes of a program or product without looking at the internal processes that created the results. This type of evaluation only assesses the input and output of the system and pays little to no attention to what is occurring in between. A theory-driven evaluation, on the other hand, looks at the internal processes of a program or product to determine its effectiveness. This type of evaluation attempts to tease out how the inputs and outputs of the system were produced, and how certain strategies, strategies and structures are contributing to the overall outcomes. It seeks to understand why certain outcomes occurred, rather than simply observing them. Theory-driven evaluations therefore rely heavily on theoretical explanations, models, frameworks and hypotheses to conduct the assessment.