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Cross-cultural evaluation is an explicit approach to evaluation that considers culture a key consideration in the evaluation of programs, leading to the search for methodological practices that are commensurate with the culture, context and values of the program community. Through the exploration of three 'problematics', this article explores what it means to understand others and ourselves within the research context, problematizing the nature of identity and self-identity, as we begin to make sense of the multiple and often conflicting identities and categories of being that we confront both within ourselves and among our research participants in the field. How we represent our findings and how we understand the voices of others and ourselves in the text, while posing fundamental questions in any qualitative social science inquiry, becomes even more critical in cross-cultural research and evaluation.

"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. This book utilizes 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). The authors 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 ongoing research in culturally responsive approaches in evaluation"--

As a deeply relational, dialogic, engaged and political approach, the collaborative research context is fairly unique in the world of research, and as such opens up an entirely new set of ethical considerations that serve to differentiate it from other approaches, repositioning ethics as a fundamental rationale for collaborative inquiry. In this paper, we revisit the justifications for collaborative approaches to evaluation—the three Ps—which have become integral to our discourse about the genre. We then elaborate on our rationale for exploring ethics as a legitimate interest in collaborative approaches to evaluation, with special consideration given to why ethics should become an essential consideration moving forward, specifically in terms of the moral obligations of collaborative approaches to evaluation practitioners. We then re-envision the inclusion of an "ethic of engagement" along seven interconnected dimensions, what we refer to as the Seven Rs of collaborative practice: reflexivity, relationality, responsibility, recognition, representation, reciprocity, and rights.

The terms cultural responsiveness and cultural competence have become ubiquitous in many fields of social inquiry, including in evaluation. The discourse surrounding these issues in evaluation has also increased markedly in recent years, and the terms can now be found in many RFPs and government-based evaluation descriptions. We have found that novice evaluators are able to engage culturally re-sponsive approaches to evaluation at the conceptual level, but are unable to translate theoretical constructs into practice. In this article we share a framework for teaching culturally responsive approaches to evaluation. The framework includes two do-mains: conceptual and methodological, each with two interconnected dimensions. The dimensions of the conceptual domain include locating self and social inquiry as a cultural product. The dimensions of the methodological domain include formal and informal applications in evaluation practice. Each of the dimensions are linked to multiple domains within the Competencies for Canadian Evaluation practice. We discuss each and provide suggestions for activities that align with each of the dimensions.Les termes sensibilité culturelle et compétence culturelle sont mainten-ant omniprésents dans de nombreux domaines d'enquête sociale, notamment en évaluation. Le discours entourant ces questions en évaluation s'est aussi intensifié de façon marquée au cours des dernières années et ces termes sont maintenant présents dans de nombreuses demandes de proposition et descriptions d'évaluation émanant d'organismes gouvernementaux. Nous avons trouvé que les évaluateurs débutants sont en mesure de concevoir des approches d'évaluation culturellement adaptées, mais sont incapables de transférer ces notions théoriques à la pratique. Dans le présent article, nous décrivons un cadre pour l'enseignement d'approches évaluatives qui soient culturellement sensibles. Le cadre inclut deux sphères – conceptuelle et méthodologique – chacune ayant deux dimensions interconnectées. Les dimensions de la sphère conceptuelle implique de positionner l'évaluateur et le processus de recherche comme un produit culturel. Les dimensions de la sphère mé-thodologique comprennent des applications formelles et informelles pour la pratique

Public administration scholars have discerned a shift in the federal governance context in Canada, from what was traditionally a strong, nonpartisan public service to a more politicized, even partisan, model of public decision-making with power concentrated in the upper reaches of the political executive. We explore the potential implications of these changes for evaluation in the federal bureaucracy. Our analysis, tentative at this point, suggests that in light of heightened political pressures, and a decline in the use of "evidence" in federal policy circles, evaluations may present an increasingly complex activity for public administrators to manage. These developments raise important questions for the evaluation community about its relationships with public managers and its role and professional values in a democratic institution.Les observateurs du domaine de l'administration publique ont constaté un virage dans le contexte de la gouvernance fédérale au Canada, laquelle est passée d'une administration publique forte, non partisane, à un modèle plus politisé, voire partisan, de la prise de décisions où le pouvoir est concentré dans les plus hautes sphères de l'exécutif fédéral. Nous explorons les impacts possibles de ces changements sur l'évaluation au sein de la bureaucratie fédérale. Notre analyse préliminaire semble indiquer que, au vu des pressions politiques accrues et du déclin du recours aux « preuves » dans les milieux politiques fédéraux, l'évaluation devient une activité de plus en plus complexe à gérer pour les administrateurs fédéraux. Ces développements soulèvent des questions importantes au sein de la communauté de l'évaluation pour ce qui est de ses liens avec les gestionnaires du secteur public ainsi que de son rôle et de ses valeurs professionnelles au sein d'une institution démocratique.