The empirical literature on programme evaluability is sparse and little is known about how evaluators operationalise prescriptive articulations of evaluability.Objectives: In this study, we explore inductively and comparatively how evaluators practising in different contexts (i.e. high-income or middle-income countries, with or without mature evaluation cultures) operationalise programme evaluability.Method: We administered the Q-sort method to a geographically dispersed expert sample and

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... atically identified evaluability perspectives that are unique to and shared across different evaluator cohorts. Valid responses from evaluators recruited from the United States of America (USA) (n = 86), the United Kingdom (n = 26), Brazil (n =79) and South Africa (n = 38) were analysed using Q factor analysis.Results: Four empirically distinct perspectives could be characterised meaningfully, two of which (labelled as theory-driven and utilisation-focused) were shared by most evaluators in our sample.Conclusion: Implications for cross-border collaborations as well as viable strategies to reconcile divergent perspectives that could emerge within evaluability assessment teams are discussed.