TY - JOUR
T1 - Clarifying the role of belief-motive explanations in multi-stakeholder realist evaluation
AU - Evans, S.
AU - Dadich, A.
AU - Stout, B.
AU - Plath, D.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - In realist evaluation, where researchers aim to make program theories explicit, they can encounter competing explanations as to how programs work. Managing explanatory tensions from different sources of evidence in multi-stakeholder projects can challenge external evaluators, especially when access to pertinent data, like client records, is mediated by program stakeholders. In this article, we consider two central questions: how can program stakeholder motives shape a realist evaluation project; and how might realist evaluators respond to stakeholders’ belief-motive explanations, including those about program effectiveness, based on factors such as supererogatory commitment or trying together in good faith? Drawing on our realist evaluation of a service reform initiative involving multiple agencies, we describe stakeholder motives at key phases, highlighting a need for tactics and skills that help to manage explanatory tensions. In conclusion, the relevance of stakeholders’ belief-motive explanations (‘we believe the program works’) in realist evaluation is clarified and discussed.
AB - In realist evaluation, where researchers aim to make program theories explicit, they can encounter competing explanations as to how programs work. Managing explanatory tensions from different sources of evidence in multi-stakeholder projects can challenge external evaluators, especially when access to pertinent data, like client records, is mediated by program stakeholders. In this article, we consider two central questions: how can program stakeholder motives shape a realist evaluation project; and how might realist evaluators respond to stakeholders’ belief-motive explanations, including those about program effectiveness, based on factors such as supererogatory commitment or trying together in good faith? Drawing on our realist evaluation of a service reform initiative involving multiple agencies, we describe stakeholder motives at key phases, highlighting a need for tactics and skills that help to manage explanatory tensions. In conclusion, the relevance of stakeholders’ belief-motive explanations (‘we believe the program works’) in realist evaluation is clarified and discussed.
KW - evaluation
KW - projects
KW - social service
KW - stakeholders
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/1959.7/uws:54759
U2 - 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2020.101800
DO - 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2020.101800
M3 - Article
SN - 0149-7189
VL - 80
JO - Evaluation and Program Planning
JF - Evaluation and Program Planning
M1 - 101800
ER -