Contribution analysis is about testing and refining a theory of change to build a credible case for contribution. It's focused on a specific theory of change and on the contributions to outcomes. These contributions might happen along a causal chain, but CA tends to be less explicit about how they are to be traced.

Causal mapping is strongly related. It is not an evaluation method in its own right, but more of a tool which can assist with CA. it's about visualizing and interrogating the whole web of causes and effects. It explicitly addresses the challenge of overlap and influence between causes and effects. It doesn't rely on a fixed theory of change but on the factors and links between them which are actually mentioned in documents and interviews.

How causal mapping can help with Contribution Analysis:

• by helping to assemble all the relevant evidence along some causal pathway or pathways from intervention to outcome. Causal mapping has a strong understanding of chains and transitivity. Contribution Analysis can then focus on what it is best at, namely weighing up different explanations for an outcome and how much our intervention really contributed to it.