Valuing is context dependent. That is the cross-cutting theme of the chapters in this issue of New Directions for Evaluation. This chapter highlights how each author emphasizes contextual sensitivity and adaptability in the valuing process and concludes with a personal interpretation of each author' s evaluator context to add value to the wisdom and guidance offered by each. Β©Wiley Periodicals, Inc., and the American Evaluation Association.
C ontext matters. That was the theme of the 2009 annual conference of the American Evaluation Association. Valuing is context dependent. That is what the thoughtful and insightful contributors to this New Directions for Evaluation (NDE) issue conclude.
Debra Rog, in her 2009 presidential address, asserted that emerging from the long-standing methodological debates in evaluation has been recognition of the need for contextually sensitive evaluation practice, an approach that matches methods to the conditions in the context and the needs of the stakeholder.
[J]ust as we opened the black box of programs through the use of implementation evaluation, we can navigate the "black hole of context" through the use of systems thinking and other approaches that explicitly examine the influence of the broader environment on programs and their participants. This issue opens the black box of valuing and helps us navigate the black hole of valuing by embedding valuing in sensitivity to context.