scholarly journals What’s in a Realist Configuration? Deciding Which Causal Configurations to Use, How, and Why

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 160940692093857
Author(s):  
E. De Weger ◽  
N. J. E. Van Vooren ◽  
G. Wong ◽  
S. Dalkin ◽  
B. Marchal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Complex Interventions ◽  
Realist Evaluation ◽  
Causal Explanations ◽  
Popular Approach ◽  
Explanatory Factors ◽  
What Works ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Intervention Context ◽  
Successes And Failures

Background: Realist studies represent an increasingly popular approach for exploring complex interventions’ successes and failures. The theory-driven approach seeks to explain “what works, how, why, in which contexts, for whom, and to what extent” using context–mechanism–outcome (CMO) configurations. When the approach was first developed, CMO configurations were the method for expressing causal explanations. Increasingly, realist studies have been conducted using different variations of the heuristic such as strategy–context–mechanism–outcome (SCMO) configurations or intervention–context–actor–mechanism–outcome (ICAMO) configurations. Researchers have highlighted a lack of methodological guidance regarding which additional explanatory factors can be included in configurations (e.g., strategies, interventions, actors). This article aims to clarify and further develop the concept of configurations by discussing how explanatory factors could be robustly added to the original CMO configuration as put forward by Pawson and Tilley. Comparing the use of different types of configurations: We draw on two of our own studies, one which formulated CMO configurations and one which formulated SCMO configurations, and on an evidence scan of realist studies. We explored the effects these different configurations had on studies’ findings and highlight why researchers chose CMOs or SCMOs. Finally, we provide recommendations regarding the use of configurations. These are as follows: Using additional explanatory factors is possible but consider the research scope to select the configuration appropriate for the study; Be transparent about the choice in configuration and include examples of configurations; Further studies about the use of additional explanatory factors are needed to better understand the effects on each step in the realist evaluation cycle; and New ways of disseminating realist findings are needed to balance transparency regarding the use of configurations. Conclusions: Adding explanatory factors is possible and can be insightful depending on the study’s scope and aims; however, any configuration type must adhere to the rule of generative causation.

Impact of the Locus of Causality and Internal Control on the Social Utility of Causal Explanations

2010 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 173-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Perrin ◽  
Benoît Testé
Keyword(s):  
Internal Control ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Social Utility ◽  
External Control ◽  
Job Interview ◽  
Locus Of Causality ◽  
Causal Explanations ◽  
Professional Success ◽  
The Social ◽  
Different Types

Research into the norm of internality ( Beauvois & Dubois, 1988 ) has shown that the expression of internal causal explanations is socially valued in social judgment. However, the value attributed to different types of internal explanations (e.g., efforts vs. traits) is far from homogeneous. This study used the Weiner (1979 ) tridimensional model to clarify the factors explaining the social utility attached to internal versus external explanations. Three dimensions were manipulated: locus of causality, controllability, and stability. Participants (N = 180 students) read the explanations expressed by appliants during a job interview. They then described the applicants on the French version of the revised causal dimension scale and rated their future professional success. Results indicated that internal-controllable explanations were the most valued. In addition, perceived internal and external control of explanations were significant predictors of judgments.

Gathering Evidence: The Basics

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline M. Dewar
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Numerical Data ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
What Works ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Gathering Data

Chapter 4 provides an introduction to gathering data for scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) investigations, including the importance of triangulation, that is, collecting several different types of evidence. Examples are given of typical kinds of quantitative (numerical) and qualitative (non-numerical) data that might be used in a SoTL study. That quantitative and qualitative data are more closely related than it might seem at first is discussed. The taxonomy of SoTL questions—What works? What is? What could be?—provides a starting point for considering what type of data to collect. Suggestions are offered for ways to design assignments so that the coursework students produce can also serve as evidence, something that benefits both students and their instructor.

Evaluating complex interventions: A theory-driven realist-informed approach

Evaluation ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 294-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boru Douthwaite ◽  
John Mayne ◽  
Cynthia McDougall ◽  
Rodrigo Paz-Ybarnegaray
Keyword(s):  
Complex Interventions ◽  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
Evaluation Systems ◽  
Program Monitoring ◽  
Evaluation Approach ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Theories Of Change ◽  
Design And Methods ◽  
After Action Reviews

There is a growing recognition that programs that seek to change people’s lives are intervening in complex systems, which puts a particular set of requirements on program monitoring and evaluation. Developing complexity-aware program monitoring and evaluation systems within existing organizations is difficult because they challenge traditional orthodoxy. Little has been written about the practical experience of doing so. This article describes the development of a complexity-aware evaluation approach in the CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems. We outline the design and methods used including trend lines, panel data, after action reviews, building and testing theories of change, outcome evidencing and realist synthesis. We identify and describe a set of design principles for developing complexity-aware program monitoring and evaluation. Finally, we discuss important lessons and recommendations for other programs facing similar challenges. These include developing evaluation designs that meet both learning and accountability requirements; making evaluation a part of a program’s overall approach to achieving impact; and, ensuring evaluation cumulatively builds useful theory as to how different types of program trigger change in different contexts.

Programming in Restrictive Housing: Considerations for Improving Outcome Evaluations

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (8) ◽  
pp. 1174-1191 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Daniel Butler ◽  
Starr Solomon ◽  
Ryan Spohn
Keyword(s):  
Treatment Effect ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Inmate Misconduct ◽  
The Past ◽  
What Works ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Time Served ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Outcome Evaluations ◽  
Behavioral Programming

A number of studies have identified “what works” in regard to the successful implementation of correctional programming over the past several decades. Few studies, however, have examined the complexities associated with programming in restrictive housing. Using data from a Midwestern department of corrections, we examined whether the provision of programming in restrictive housing achieved desired outcomes (e.g., reductions in inmate misconduct). The findings revealed the amount of time served in restrictive housing and confinement in different types of restrictive housing may influence estimations of a treatment effect. As a growing number of states seek to reform the use of restrictive housing, the proper implementation of cognitive-behavioral programming may increase institutional security and safety.

Aleatory Explanations

2019 ◽  
pp. 193-199
Author(s):  
Paul Humphreys
Keyword(s):  
Canonical Form ◽  
Causal Explanations ◽  
Explanatory Factors ◽  
Relevant Factors

The question of what role negatively relevant factors should play in explanations that refer to probabilistic causes is addressed. A distinction between contributing and counteracting causes is drawn. Arguments are given that citing the probability value as part of the explanation is unnecessary, that restricting the explanatory factors to only the positively relevant factors is misleading, and that listing some, but not all, of the contributing and counteracting causes allows for partial but true explanations to be given. The canonical explanatory form for probabilistic causal explanations "X because Y despite Z" is introduced and linguistic variants of the canonical form are given.

Theory-based evaluations: Framing the existence of a new theory in evaluation and the rise of the 5th generation

Evaluation ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Astrid Brousselle ◽  
Jean-Marie Buregeya
Keyword(s):  
Critical Realism ◽  
Complex Interventions ◽  
Realist Evaluation ◽  
Fifth Generation ◽  
Contribution Analysis ◽  
Generation Theory ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Explanation Generation ◽  
Design And Application

In this article we defend the idea that theory-based evaluations—contribution analysis, logic analysis, and realist evaluation—are complementary components of a new theory in evaluation. We also posit that we are currently observing the emergence of a fifth generation in evaluation: the explanation generation. Theory-based evaluations have featured prominently in the discourse of evaluators since the mid-1980s. They have developed mainly in response to the need for evaluation of complex interventions. In this article we analyze certain approaches that have matured in their design and application. We use the framework of Shadish et al. to analyze the ontological, epistemological, and methodological foundations of various theory-based approaches in evaluation to appraise their similarities and differences. We observe that all these approaches are grounded in critical realism. Similarities seen in their ontological, epistemological, and methodological positionings, as well as their complementarity in terms of the evaluative questions they address, suggest we may be observing the consolidation of a new theory in evaluation and the emergence of a fifth generation.

scholarly journals An examination of teacher questioning in a Year 8 Classics class

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (39) ◽  
pp. 24-32
Author(s):  
Eleanor Vale
Keyword(s):  
Assessment For Learning ◽  
Experience Report ◽  
School Experience ◽  
Teacher Questioning ◽  
Class Participation ◽  
Questioning Strategies ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Successes And Failures

This assignment investigates the effects of various questioning strategies on the engagement and attainment of a Year 8 Classics class1. I became increasingly interested in questioning whilst reading more widely about Assessment for Learning (AfL) for my School Experience Report (SER), and decided that the omnipresence of questioning in every classroom would make it a valuable focus for this report. Building on my understanding of the importance of questioning as an AfL strategy, my aim was to devise a series of lessons making explicit use of different types of questioning and to analyse the relative successes and failures of each approach. This was measured by assessing overall class participation and by specifically studying the responses and involvement of five ‘focus’ students. Profiles of these students are below and each student has been allocated a pseudonym.

Realist evaluation of faculty development for medical educators: What works for whom and why in the long-term

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 422-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olanrewaju O. Sorinola ◽  
Jill Thistlethwaite ◽  
David Davies ◽  
Ed Peile
Keyword(s):  
Faculty Development ◽  
Realist Evaluation ◽  
What Works ◽  
Medical Educators

scholarly journals A series of realist evaluations of multi-component programmes with disengaged young people: What works, for whom, and in what contexts?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Emily C Owen
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Premature Mortality ◽  
Realist Evaluation ◽  
Training Study ◽  
Peer Contagion ◽  
What Works ◽  
Final Study ◽  
Collective Experience ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
And Training

Periods spent in the absence of education, employment, or training (NEET) are associated with adverse psychological wellbeing, poverty, social marginalisation, criminal behaviour, and premature mortality. As such, implementing effective programmes to re-engage young people who are classified, or are at risk of becoming classified, as NEET is of great importance to these individuals, family, and society more broadly. To this end, the aim of the current thesis was to conduct three realist evaluations to understand how and under which circumstances multi-component programmes may impact the engagement, behavioural, and psychosocial outcomes of disengaged students and young people who are not in education, employment, or training. Study 1 consisted of a realist evaluation of a six-month multi-component programme for year ten (aged 14-15 years) disengaged students across three schools. In Study 2, the findings and refined programme theories from Study 1 were subsequently tested through a 10-week multi-component programme with disengaged year eight (aged 12-13 years) students and evaluated over ten months. Informed by the findings from the first two studies, the final study comprised the development, implementation, and evaluation of a four-week multi-component programme utilising appreciative inquiry as a theoretical framework to re-engage young people (aged 17-23 years) who were outside of education, employment, and training. Overall, the findings from the three studies highlighted the potential benefits of utilising a multi-component programme to re-engage young people. Specifically, context-mechanism-outcome configurations and refined programme theories relating to the development of trust, positions of authority, the power of collective experience, exploration of possible life directions, active learning, deviant peer contagion, and the reinforcement and enactment of hegemonic masculine identities were developed. Collectively, the results provide a detailed and practical understanding of the architecture of programmes that can benefit disengaged young people and help advance the implementation of future programmes for working with disengaged populations.

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