Greenhalgh, J orcid.org/0000-0003-2189-8879 and Manzano, A orcid.org/0000-0001-6277-3752 (2022) Understanding ‘context’ in realist evaluation and synthesis. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 25 (5). pp. 583-595. ISSN 1364-5579
Abstract
Context is a key concept in developing realist causal explanations but its conceptualisation has received comparatively less attention. We conducted a review to explore how context is conceptualised within realist reviews and evaluations. We purposively selected 40 studies to examine: How is context defined? And how is context operationalised in the findings? We identified two key ‘narratives’ in the way context was conceptualised: 1) Context as observable features (space, place, people, things) that triggered or blocked the intervention; assuming that context operates at one moment in time and sets in motion a chain reaction of events. 2) Context as the relational and dynamic features that shaped the mechanisms through which the intervention works; assuming that context operates in a dynamic, emergent way over time at multiple different levels of the social system. These two context narratives have different implications for the design, goals and impact of realist reviews and evaluations.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. |
Keywords: | causality; complexity; Context; realist evaluation; realist synthesis |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law (Leeds) > School of Sociology and Social Policy (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number NIHR National Inst Health Research R38628 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 23 Apr 2021 12:05 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 22:38 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Routledge |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/13645579.2021.1918484 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:173073 |
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