Date and time: Friday 28 August, 12.00pm-1.00pm AEST
Topic: Choosing the Right Evaluation Lens
Presenters: Andrew Hawkins and Julie Elliot
Venue: Via Zoom. Details will be emailed to registrants just prior to the start time.
Register online by: 27 August 2026

Event description:

How do evaluators decide what kind of evaluation thinking best fits the job in front of them? In this one-hour online seminar, Andrew Hawkins and Julie Elliott will use Hawkins’ recent article, Lenses and their blind spots: A comparative framework for evaluation paradigms, to open a practical discussion about how evaluators choose their approach, often without naming it.

The session starts from a simple idea. Evaluators do not just choose methods, they also make choices about what kind of question they are trying to answer, what counts as good evidence, and how much context matters. Andrew’s paper describes six different “lenses” for doing this and argues that no single lens is best in every situation. The correct question is which lens best suits the purpose and context of the evaluation.

For practicing evaluators, this matters because many jobs require balancing accountability, learning, use, judgement and improvement at the same time. The discussion will look at how systems evaluation fits alongside other common approaches, and how being more explicit about these choices can help evaluators avoid talking past clients, stakeholders and each other.

This seminar will:
• Explain briefly the six lenses in plain language: accountability, experimental, realist, constructivist, pragmatic and systems.
• Explore the idea that many evaluators work from a default post-positivist position without always naming it, especially in mixed-methods practice.
• Discuss what systems evaluation adds, where it is strong, and where it may need to be combined with other approaches to meet real-world evaluation needs.
• Consider practical questions such as: What kind of knowledge is needed here? What is the main purpose of the evaluation? What role should context play? What might this approach miss?
• Invite discussion about how evaluators make these choices under time, budget and commissioner pressures.

There will be plenty of time for discussion focused on everyday evaluation practice, including how to make better design choices at the start of a project and how to explain those choices clearly to others.

Presenter(s) details:

Andrew Hawkins
Andrew Hawkins is Partner and Chief Evaluator at ARTD Consultants in Sydney. He is the author of Lenses and their blind spots: A comparative framework for evaluation paradigms, published in July in the European Evaluation Society’s journal ‘Evaluation’. This paper compares six evaluation lenses across 10 dimensions to help evaluators make more deliberate choices in practice.
Julie Elliott
Julie Elliott is an evaluation practitioner with a strong interest in systems evaluation, evaluative reasoning and the practical choices evaluators make when working across different approaches. Her contribution to this session focuses on opening up a useful discussion for practitioners about how systems thinking connects with accountability, learning, judgement, use and improvement in real evaluation settings.

This free event has been organised by the Systems Evaluation SIG. Our seminar series provides an opportunity for you to meet with AES members and others in the evaluation community and to share and learn from the experiences of fellow evaluators. 

This seminar will not be recorded.

Seminar start times:

VIC, NSW, ACT, TAS: 12.00pm

QLD: 11.00am

SA: 11.30 am

NT: 10.30am

WA: 9.00am

New Zealand: 2.00pm

For other time zones please go to https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

Please ensure you have access to your email address just prior to the start time to access Zoom details. Please also check your email address is correct on your registration form before submitting. Thanks.