Institutional Learning and Change Initiative

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Abstract:

Realist evaluation is a species of theory-driven evaluation. Some of the differences between it and fellow members of the genus (programme theory evaluation, theoriesof-change evaluation) will be noted in the course of the section. What should be stressed in the first instance, however, is the commonality. In all of these perspectives social programmes are regarded as products of the human imagination: they are hypothesis about social betterment. Programmes chart out a perceived course whereby wrongs might be put to rights, deficiencies of behaviour corrected, inequalities of condition alleviated. Programmes are thus shaped by a vision of change and they succeed or fail according to the veracity of that vision. Evaluation, by these lights, has the task of testing out the underlying programme theories. When one evaluates realistically one always returns to the core theories about how a programme is supposed to work and then interrogates it - is that basic plan sound, plausible, durable, practical and, above all, valid?

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system/files/private/Articles/Pawson_RealistEvaluation.pdf