Expanding the Evaluator’s Toolkit by Prioritizing and Integrating Diverse Perspectives: Insights on Culturally Responsive Counterfactual Thinking

Abstract Information: Culturally Responsive Counterfactual Thinking involves reflecting on notions of causality from varied perspectives, reflecting on each from critical cultural perspective. In this Think Tank, former Co-Editors of the American Journal of Evaluation Jori Hall and Laura Peck will describe how varied notions of causality align with culturally responsive approaches to research and evaluation. The session will probe the following questions: • What does it mean to execute a culturally responsive evaluation? • What value does counterfactual thinking bring to evaluation? • How can the two concepts inform each other to support better evaluation? Using the Think Tank format, we will engage the audience in breakout group discussions to make headway on how these two key evaluation notions can come together in evaluation methods and practice. The aim is to introduce counterfactual thinking into culturally responsive evaluation approaches, and to bring culturally responsive practices into impact evaluation designs that support causal conclusions. Only by tapping the expertise of scholars and practitioners who use these approaches can we expand the evaluator’s toolkit with more nuanced and responsive approaches.