Skip to toolbar
  • Home
  • Browse All
  • Search
  • My History
  • Login
  • More
  • Contact Us
  • Using the Collections
  • How to Tag Items
  • Login
  • Register
4759

Warning. Cloning this item will not retain its parent-child relationship.

Open/Close Toolbox
    Format: Publication
    Linked To
    Publication Collection
    • Northern Institute - Learning Communities: International Journal of Learning in Social Contexts
    Tweet this on TwitterShare this on FacebookShare this on LinkedInShare this on TumblrShare this via email
    Tools
    DownloadAdd to My CollectionContact us about thisCitation for this item
    • Library
    • Art Collection & Gallery
    • Surprise Me
    • Contact Us
    Welcome GuestLogin
    Previous: Measuring the unmeasured in educational programs: filling in the blanks through evaluationNext: The case for experimental design in realist evaluationPublications

    Telling Context from Mechanism in Realist Evaluation: The role for theory

    Expand/collapse
    Details
    Publication TypeJournal articleAbstractRealist evaluation is based on the premise that aspects of context trigger particular mechanisms in response to an intervention, which result in observable outcomes. This is often expressed in the formula C+M=O. Contexts are defined as the conditions that an intervention operates in (often but not exclusively sociocultural), while mechanisms are understood to be the future action that people take in response to the intervention. There is much debate, however, about the definitions and because distinctions are not clear-cut it can be difficult to decide which is which, particularly when the intervention concerns some program of curricular intervention. In this paper we discuss how we resolved this dilemma in an evaluation of a curriculum change in 13 universities in Australia and New Zealand. In that case we found a cascade of contexts and mechanisms, whereby what was a mechanism from one point of view (such as the decisions involved in course design) became a context triggering later mechanisms (such as teacher and student behaviours). The scholarly literature defining curriculum helped us to organise our thinking and subsequent analysis in a rational way, but in many evaluations there may not be a handy body of work that discusses how to understand the topic of the intervention in this way, nor do many consultant evaluators have the luxury of long hours in the library. We consider some ways in which evaluators might decide on defining contexts and mechanisms in principled ways and some of the consequences of those decisions.AuthorJolly, H.Jolly, L.Date2014Publication CollectionNorthern Institute - Learning Communities: International Journal of Learning in Social ContextsVolume14/ 2014Page Number28-45CopyrightCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia License.Suggested CitationJolly, H., & Jolly, L. (2014). Telling Context from Mechanism in Realist Evaluation: The role for theory. Learning Communities: International Journal of Learning in Social Contexts [Special Issue: Evaluation], 14, 28-45. DOI: http://doi.org/10.18793/LCJ2014.14.03.ISSNISSN 1329-1440 (online)ISSN 2202-7904 (print)PublisherFaculty of Law, Education, Business and Arts CHARLES DARWIN UNIVERSITYPlace of PublicationDarwin
    Jolly, L., Telling Context from Mechanism in Realist Evaluation: The role for theory (2014). Charles Darwin University, accessed 06/02/2023, https://digitalcollections.cdu.edu.au/nodes/view/4759
    Privacy Policy | Terms of Use
    Content on this site may be subject to Copyright, please contact Charles Darwin University before any reuse if you are unsure.
    RECOLLECT is Copyright © 2011-2023 by Recollect Limited | Page rendered in 0.2857 seconds

    Charles Darwin University acknowledges the traditional custodians across the lands on which we live and work, and we pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

    CRICOS Provider No: 00300K (NT/VIC) 03286A (NSW) RTO Provider No: 0373 TEQSA Provider ID PRV12069

    ABN 54 093 513 649 | Privacy | Copyright and Disclaimer | Cookies | Feedback