Unpacking Black Boxes
Mechanisms and Theory Building in Evaluation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5829665 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Brad Astbury (0000-0001-6832-4472, The University of Melbourne), Frans L Leeuw (0000-0002-9538-6043, University of Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands, Research, Statistics and Information Center, Ministry of Justice, the Netherlands Institute for Justice, Den Haag, the Netherlands) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 363-381 |
| Publication date | 2010-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Evaluation (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1098-2140 • E-ISSN: 1557-0878 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1098214010371972 |
| OpenAlex | W2028200801 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 214 |
| References cited | 84 |
There is growing interest in the concept of ''mechanism'' across many areas of the social sciences. In the field of program and policy evaluation, a number of scholars have also emphasized the importance of causal mechanisms for explaining how and why programs work. However, there appears to be some ambiguity about the meaning and uses of mechanism-based thinking in both the social science and evaluation literature. In this article we attempt to clarify what is meant by mechanisms in the context of program evaluation by identifying three main characteristics of mechanisms and outlining a possible typology of mechanisms. A number of theoretical and practical implications for evaluators are also discussed, along with some precautions to consider when investigating mechanisms that might plausibly account for program outcomes
Unpacking · Educational Assessment and Improvement · Evaluation and Performance Assessment · Public Policy and Administration Research
Navigating Stigma and Support
Using implementation science theories and frameworks in global health
Evaluación de intervenciones sociales basadas en el turismo usando el enfoque metodológico de la Evaluación Realista
Coordenadas GPS
Rameses publication standards
The concept of mechanism from a realist approach
Research co-design in health
Realist Synthesis for Public Health
Social media empowerment in social movements
Large‐System Transformation in Health Care
Rameses II reporting standards for realist evaluations
Retrenched Welfare Regimes Still Lessen Social Class Inequalities in Health
Evaluation of Health in All Policies
Understanding Australian policies on public health using social and political science theories
Bolstering teacher retention through collaborative professional development
Opening the Black Box
Third sector perspectives on community link worker referrals in social prescribing
Mediation analysis investigating the mechanisms of two school-based smoking prevention interventions in adolescents from Northern Ireland and Bogotá
Exploring peer education for migrant informal caregivers of mentally ill loved ones
The spatially uneven effects of a desegregation education policy
Policy implementation as social justice
What gets them going? The effects of activation policies on personal change processes of unemployed youth
Critical Realism and Realist Inquiry in Medical Education
What Really Matters for Supervision Training Workshops? A Realist Evaluation
A theory of change approach to analysing tourism social entrepreneurship research
Evaluation of an English language peer tutoring intervention
Assessing the effectiveness of development co‐operation
School mechanisms behind achievement differences
Ecosystem accounting's potential to support coastal and marine governance
A realist review of scholarly experiences in medical education
Realist analysis of qualitative data in health professions education research
A roadmap to realist interviews in health professions education research
How medical school alters empathy
A realist evaluation of prospective entrustment decisions in paediatric residency clinical competency committees
A realist synthesis of prospective entrustment decision making by entrustment or clinical competency committees
The workings of an action learning program for building mental health promotion capacity – A realist evaluation
Backward mapping from outcomes
Methods in realist evaluation
Theory-based evaluation of the impact of Master’s programmes in development studies
Designing centralized waiting lists for attachment to a primary care provider
Equity-related ‘knots’ in theory of change development
Beyond the average effect of the innovation subsidies
Learning patient-centredness with simulated/standardized patients
Therapeutic Process Through an Analysis of Significant Events in Psychodramatic Family Therapy
Parents, teachers, and policy makers in educational interventions for gifted students
On police and university collaborations
Accounting for complexity in critical realist trials
Mechanisms for achieving adolescent-friendly services in Ecuador
A realist synthesis of staff-based primary health care interventions addressing universal health coverage
Protecting health workers from infectious disease transmission
Still Looking for Mechanisms
How Is Equity‐Based Co‐Creation Enacted in Health and Social Services? An Evaluation of Four Case Studies
Outpatient Virtual Care Among People Living With and Beyond Cancer From Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds in Australia
Potential Applications of Realist Methodologies to Implementation Science Research
What can we learn from reviews of realist evaluation studies? Principles for rigorous realist evaluation
Outcome-based measurement for developmental services
Rural development and (im)mobility
A health equity impact assessment umbrella program (Aapriss) to tackle social inequalities in health
Evaluating Complex Interventions Using Qualitative Longitudinal Research
Global Health Research, Anthropology and Realist Enquiry
The use of realist approaches for health research in Indigenous communities
How Design of Places Promotes or Inhibits Mobility of Older Adults
Community-Based Mental Health Intervention Skills
Process evaluation of text-based support for fathers during the transition to fatherhood (SMS4dads)
Philosophical analysis of the Recovery College learning model
Using Realist Evaluation to Understand Process Outcomes in a Covid-19-Impacted Yoga Intervention Trial
Coping Strategies Used by Older Adults to Deal with Contact Isolation in the Hospital during the Covid-19 Pandemic
Appropriate Employment for Segregated Roma
How Does the Context Shape the Technical Support from the Provincial Health Administration to District Health Management Teams in the Democratic Republic of Congo? A Realist Evaluation
Protocol for the Implementation and Evaluation of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention for Caregivers of Children with Mental Disorders in a Clinical Setting
The health system accountability impact of prison health committees in Zambia
Evidence use in equity focused health impact assessment
Searching for new community engagement approaches in the Netherlands
Mechanisms of change of a novel weight loss programme provided by a third sector organisation
We all have the same right to have health services’
Using path analysis to test theory of change
Nothing Works? A Meta-Review of Indigenous Sentencing Court Evaluations
Causal Claims in Contribution Analysis
Power dynamics and intersectoral collaboration for health in low- and middle-income countries
How, why, and under what circumstances can supportive supervision programs improve malaria case management? A realist program theory
A realist evaluation of the implementation of a national tobacco control programme and policy in India
Family support policies and child outcomes
Not feeling heard’ in health care
Is realist evaluation keeping its promise? A review of published empirical studies in the field of health systems research
Stakeholder involvement in realist evaluation
Caregiver Support in Mental Health Recovery
Mecanismos de evaluaciones realistas en intervenciones de atención primaria en salud en poblaciones rurales y urbanas marginales
Tightening the Dutch coffee shop policy
Have policy process scholars embraced causal mechanisms? A review of five popular frameworks
Feedback that works
Understanding the impact of school tobacco policies on adolescent smoking behaviour
The contribution of the social network of care leavers to a successful transition to adulthood
How stakeholder participation can contribute to systematic reviews of complex interventions
This Is Not Gym”
Inspections of Swedish schools
Examining the Relationship Between Intentionality for Child Well-Being (CWB) and Program Outcomes in a Meta-Evaluation
Researching Social Work Practice Ethically and Developing Ethical Researchers
Co-production and arts-informed inquiry as creative power for knowledge mobilisation
Integrated Community Care Delivered by Public Health Care and Social Care Systems
A Critical Realist Translational Social Epidemiology Protocol for Concretising and Contextualising a “Theory of Neighbourhood Context, Stress, Depression, and the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD)”, Sydney Australia
Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences
Economics and Reality
A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance
Explaining Social Behavior
A Measure for Measures
Program Theory-Driven Evaluation Science
Practical Program Evaluation
Evidence-based Policy
On a distinction between hypothetical constructs and intervening variables.
Logic models
How Can Theory-Based Evaluation Make Greater Headway?
Assessing the impact of planned social change
Informal social communication.
Theory-Based Evaluation in Practice
Explaining Human Change
Foundations of Hegel’s Social Theory
A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance
Realism and Social Science
Framing as a Theory of Media Effects
Dissecting the Social
The Mechanisms and Outcomes of Evaluation Influence
Reconstructing Program Theories
Minimalist Theory
Reconstructing Program Theories
Minimalist theory
Designed blindness
Designed Blindness
Invisible Mechanisms
Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture
Social Mechanisms and Causal Inference
Mechanism and Explanation
The Conditions of Fruitfulness of Theorizing About Mechanisms in Social Science
The Logic of Collective Action
Pygmalion in the classroom
Thinking about Mechanisms
Varieties of Social Explanation
A Realist Theory of Science
Realism in Research
What Works in Evaluation Research
A Theory of Social Comparison Processes
A Measure for Measures
Mechanisms in the Analysis of Social Macro-Phenomena
A Realist Theory of Science
Social Theory and Social Structure
The Agenda-Setting Function of Mass Media
The Mechanismic Worldview
Mechanisms in Political Processes
How Does It Work
Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture
Middle-range realism
On Education, opportunity, and social inequality
The Logic of Collective Action
Social Theory, Social Research, and a Theory of Action
The Strength of Weak Ties
| Unique citing works | 214 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 12,59 |
| Citation span | 2009 - 2026 (18) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | Yes |
| Citation types | Neutral: 210 |