～かというと is a phrase that has two primary functions. The first is used in conjunction with ‘why’ and ‘how’ words, while the other is used with ‘who’, ‘when’, ‘where’, and ‘what’. We will focus on the former in this lesson. かというと is a combination of the 格助詞（かくじょし） (case marking particle) か in its use as a question marker, the 格助詞（かくじょし）
と in its 引用（いんよう） ‘citation’ use, the う - Verb 言（い）う ‘to say’, and the 格助詞（かくじょし） と in its 結果（けっか） ‘result’ use.
This is quite a few particles combined together, but the literal meaning is more simply ‘if (A) were to be asked’, before the speaker will go on to highlight their reasoning in (B). どうして or なぜ.
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どうして明日（あした）のパーティーに行（いき）きたくないかというと、元（もと）カレが来（く）ると聞（き）いたからです。
The reason why I don't want to go to the party is because I heard that my ex-boyfriend is coming.
なぜこの計画（けいかく）で進（すす）めようと思（おも）ったかというと、以前（いぜん）この計画（けいかく）に似（に）たプランが成功（せいこう）したからです。
The reason why we have decided to continue with this plan is because a similar plan succeeded last time.
As ～かというと will come before some sort of explanation, から will also regularly be used at the end of the sentence as ‘because’, emphasizing the speaker's reasoning.
Like other grammar points that utilize the ‘if’ nuance of
と,
ば, and sometimes even
たら may be used. However,
たら will appear far less frequently than と or
ば.
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どうして冬（ふゆ）でも冷房（れいぼう）をかけているかと言（い）えば、お客（きゃく）さんに汗（あせ）をかかずに買（か）い物（もの）をさせる為（ため）です。
If you ask me why we keep the air conditioning on even in the winter, it is because we want the customers to shop without sweating.
なぜ安（やす）い方（ほう）を選（えら）んだかといったら、安（やす）いやつも、高（たか）いやつもついている機能（きのう）が同（おな）じだからです。
If you ask me why I picked the cheaper one, it is because both the cheaper one and the expensive one have the same functionality.