Combining Theories of Change and Realist Evaluation in practice: Lessons from a research on evaluation study

Citation

Rolfe S (2019) Combining Theories of Change and Realist Evaluation in practice: Lessons from a research on evaluation study. Evaluation, 25 (3), pp. 294-316. https://doi.org/10.1177/1356389019835229

Abstract
A rapidly growing range of studies apply Theories of Change or Realist Evaluation approaches to get to grips with complex causal processes. Each methodology has been criticised in terms of practicality, usefulness and theoretical difficulties. The hypothesis that combining the two approaches could overcome some of these problems and generate deeper learning has been put forward, but there have been no published assessments of the combined methodology. This paper provides findings from an evaluation of community participation policy and practice, which specifically aimed to utilize and evaluate the application of the two approaches within one study. It suggests that there are still challenges in applying Theories of Change and Realist Evaluation approaches, but they can be practically employed together, and that this synthesis can partially overcome the critiques of each individual methodology.

Keywords
Theory-based evaluation; Theories of Change; Realist Evaluation; Community participation

Journal
Evaluation: Volume 25, Issue 3

People

Dr Steve Rolfe

Lecturer in Social Policy, Sociology, Social Policy & Criminology