Context: A Framework for Its Influence on Evaluation Practice, New
Directions for Evaluation, Number 135
Book description
Context is a force in evaluation. It shapes our practice, influencing
how we approach and design our studies, how we carry them out, and how
we report our findings. Context also moderates and mediates the
outcomes of the programs and policies we evaluate.
This issue focuses squarely on the role that context plays in
practice and illuminates its effect on the implementation and outcomes
of programs. Exploring the ways in which attending to context may
improve the quality of evaluation practice, the contributions span
theory, methods, and practice in an effort to move to a more
comprehensive conceptualization of context that can guide our work. It:
- Provides an historical and theoretical view of evaluators'
treatment of context
- Illustrates how context has influenced evaluation practice
- Presents a five-area framework for guiding a contextual analysis
of evaluations
- Introduces “context assessment,” which provides a means of
integrating context and its implications within the important stages
of evaluation.
This is the 135th volume of the Jossey-Bass quarterly
report series New Directions for Evaluation, an official publication
of the American Evaluation Association.
