Contemporary Thinking About Causation in Evaluation: A Dialogue With Tom Cook and Michael Scriven

• Published in: The American journal of evaluation Vol. 31; no. 1; pp. 105 - 117
• Main Authors: Cook, Thomas D., Scriven, Michael, Coryn, Chris L. S., Evergreen, Stephanie D. H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.03.2010
• Subjects: Attribution Theory; Behavioral Science Research; Causal Models; Evaluators; Inferences; Research Design; Research Methodology; causal inference; randomized controlled trials; causation; methodology

Legitimate knowledge claims about causation have been a central concern among evaluators and applied researchers for several decades and often have been the subject of heated debates. In recent years these debates have resurfaced with a renewed intensity, due in part to the priority currently being...