Exploring Use and Influence in Culturally Responsive Approaches to Evaluation: A Review of the Empirical Literature

Abstract

Culturally responsive approaches to evaluation are emerging across diverse program and community contexts to address increasingly intractable social, economic, political, and environmental concerns. Despite the sense of urgency, responsibility, and moral obligation motivating the use of these approaches, however, empirical research on the implications of centering culture in evaluation practice remains scarce. In this article, we conduct a systematic review of empirical literature, applying the concepts of use and influence as an analytic frame to explore the impact of culturally responsive evaluation in North American contexts. Our findings highlight uses of evaluation which stem from findings and processes, as well as multidirectional and unintended consequences which are documented in empirical reflections and case studies. In our discussion, we critically reflect on our analytic framework, using the concepts, constitutive effects and sustained interactivity to broaden our understanding of the myriad ways evaluation affects programs, people, and society.

Collaborative Evaluation Frameworks for Indigenous-Led Community Health Interventions: A Narrative Review

“…Health-care partnership interventions that are Indigenous-led, holistic, and culturally grounded are more likely to advance wellness and access to care for Indigenous peoples ( Allen et al, 2020 ). Culturally responsive approaches to evaluation are used to better address concerns with injustices and social inequities ( Acree & Chouinard, 2020 ). Qualitative methods and participatory approaches are embraced in Indigenous research contexts (Indigenous methodologies), as they align more with Traditional ways of learning, sharing knowledge, and bridging worldviews ( Given, 2008 ;Kurtz et al, 2014 ).…”

“…Indigenous worldviews align with evaluation being used as an opportunity to learn and refect rather than pass judgment ( Gillespie et al, 2020 ). Culturally responsive approaches to evaluation can encourage capacity building, empowerment, and ownership and can inf uence shifs in understanding and awareness, including identifying how culture and one's positionality inf uence evaluation processes (Acree & Chouinard, 2020 ). Tis review focuses on evaluation aimed at ensuring interventions meet the identifed needs of Indigenous peoples.…”

Beyond the Buzzword: A Framework for an Indigenous Relational Evaluation in Traditional Communities in Ghana

“…Evaluation in the indigenous communities is a collective activity rooted in cultural tenets, thus, evaluation and cultural ideals are intrinsically linked (Chilisa et al, 2016;Thomas & Parsons, 2017;Bowman & Dodge-Francis, 2018;Cloete & Auriacombe, 2019;Acree & Chouinard, 2020). Nonetheless, originality and innovation are required in both.…”

Critical Evaluation Capital (CEC): A New Tool for Applying Critical Race Theory to the Evaluand

“…Lastly, culturally responsive evaluation, equitable evaluation, and systems evaluation all underscore the importance of looking at the absence and presence of power and privilege , raising critical questions about the political drivers and structural conditions that create and sustain inequity. Culturally responsive evaluation, for example, “takes the position that the project conceptualization, design, implementation, and evaluation occur within a myriad of historical, social, cultural, political, and economic contexts that must be recognized and considered” (Acree & Chouinard, 2020). Equitable evaluation is premised on the idea of disrupting the colonization of knowledge that centers a Western White worldview and marginalizes the perspectives of people of color (Dean-Coffey, 2018).…”