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Culturally Responsive Approaches to Evaluation
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Culturally Responsive Approaches to Evaluation
Empirical Implications for Theory and Practice



December 2019 | 232 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
Evaluators have always worked in diverse communities, and the programs they evaluate are designed to address often intractable socio-political and economic issues. Evaluations that explicitly aim to be more responsive to culture and cultural context are, however, a more recent phenomenon. In this book, Jill Anne Chouinard and Fiona Cram utilize a conceptual framework that foregrounds culture in social inquiry, and then uses that framework to analyze empirical studies across three distinct cultural domains of evaluation practice (Western, Indigenous and international development). Culturally Responsive Approaches to Evaluation provide a comparative analysis of these studies and discuss lessons drawn from them in order to help evaluators extend their current thinking and practice. They conclude with an agenda for future research.
 
List of Appendices, Figures, Tables
 
About the Authors
 
Volume Editors’ Introduction
 
Acknowledgments
 
Chapter 1 • Introduction
Overall Background to Book

 
Social Inquiry as a Cultural Product

 
This Book

 
 
Chapter 2 • A Conceptual Framework for Inquiry
Defining Culture

 
Dimensions of Culture and Cultural Context

 
 
Chapter 3 • Methodology and Descriptive Overview of Selected Studies
Description of Studies

 
Sample Characteristics

 
Strategy for Analysis

 
Limitations

 
 
Chapter 4 • The Indigenous Context
Overview of Chapter

 
Description of Sample

 
Review and Integration of Selected Studies

 
Critical Discussion and Implications for Practice

 
Chapter Summary

 
Extending Inquiry

 
 
Chapter 5 • The Western/North American Context
Overview of Chapter

 
Description of Sample

 
Review and Integration of Selected Studies

 
Discussion and Implications

 
Critical Discussion and Implications for Practice

 
Chapter Summary

 
Extending Inquiry

 
 
Chapter 6 • The International Development Context
Overview of the Chapter

 
The International Development Context in Evaluation

 
Description of Sample

 
Review and Integration of Selected Studies

 
Critical Discussion and Implications for Practice

 
Chapter Summary

 
Extending Inquiry

 
 
Chapter 7 • A Discussion of the Conceptual Framework Across Domains of Practice
The Epistemological Dimension of Cultural Practice

 
The Ecological Dimension of Cultural Practice

 
The Methodological Dimension of Cultural Practice

 
The Political Dimension of Cultural Practice

 
The Personal Dimension of Cultural Practice

 
The Relational Dimension of Cultural Practice

 
The Institutional Dimension of Cultural Practice

 
The Axiological Dimension of Cultural Practice

 
The Ontological Dimension of Cultural Practice

 
Concluding Remarks

 
 
Chapter 8 • Concluding Thoughts
 
References
 
Appendices
 
Index

This book provides an in-depth look at the relationships between culture and evaluation/research. Prepare yourself for a read that will transform your practice! 

Sebastian Galindo
University of Florida
Review

This is one of those rare texts which can serve both as an introduction and as an advanced consideration of evaluation. 

Arthur E. Hernandez
University of the Incarnate Word
Review

Everyone conducting social scientific research should have this essential resource on their shelf -- since not every program evaluator is an anthropologist, this is the next best thing to inform your thinking about culturally responsive practices in program evaluation. 

Frances Kayona
Saint Cloud University
Review

Well-done and much-needed text on an important topic in program evaluation. 

Raymond Sanchez-Mayers
Rutgers University
Review

This book can guide evaluators to create a future for evaluation that could lead to improved responsiveness to the needs of members of marginalized communities, and increase the transformative contribution of evaluation to improved social justice in the world. 

Donna M. Mertens
Professor Emeritus, Gallaudet University
Review

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 1. Introduction


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