Context: A Framework for Its Influence on Evaluation Practice, New Directions for Evaluation, Number 135

EDITORS’ NOTES 1
Debra J. Rog, Jody L. Fitzpatrick, Ross F. Conner

1. An Introduction to Context and Its Role in Evaluation Practice 7
Jody L. Fitzpatrick

This chapter provides an historical and conceptual review of the evaluation literature on context. Particular attention is paid to two areas in which context has been carefully considered by evaluators: the crosscultural or multicultural evaluation and international evaluation.

2. When Background Becomes Foreground: Toward Context-Sensitive Evaluation Practice 25
Debra J. Rog

The evaluation field lacks a unified understanding or comprehensive theory of context, and the attention to context in many evaluations is more implicit than explicit. This chapter attempts to bring context from the background to the foreground of our work by offering a framework for guiding context-sensitive evaluation.

3. The Social Context of Water Quality Improvement Evaluation 41
Linda P. Thurston, Christa A. Smith, Kenneth Genskow, Linda Stalker Prokopy, William L. Hargrove

This chapter discusses the contextual issues related to evaluating water quality programs, with a focus on the problem and setting contexts of Rog’s framework. The authors stress the need for evaluating the social dimensions of watershed projects and highlight an example of a water quality evaluation that addresses regional social indicators.

4. Culture Writes the Script: On the Centrality of Context in Indigenous Evaluation 59
Joan LaFrance, Richard Nichols, Karen E. Kirkhart

This chapter describes the indigenous evaluation framework (IEF), a framework that underscores the centrality of context in an indigenous approach. The authors explain the fundamental elements of IEF epistemology and offer several examples of IEF in evaluation in American Indian communities.

5. Political Culture as Context for Evaluation 75
Peter Dahler-Larsen, Thomas A. Schwandt

This chapter discusses the relationship of political culture and evaluation, illustrated through two accounts of Danish political culture. The authors use the examples to show that the concept of context is more elusive, more interminable, and less easily managed and accounted for than evaluators often take it to be.

6. A First Step Forward: Context Assessment 89
Ross F. Conner, Jody L. Fitzpatrick, Debra J. Rog

Context assessment provides a way to recognize the importance of context and act on it. The authors outline a process of context assessment that takes a first step in making context more explicit and outlines the mix of benefits, limitations, and challenges involved in using the approach.

INDEX 107

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