Steffen Bohni Nielsen
Biographic Data
| ID | 6650812 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Steffen Bohni Nielsen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Steffen Bohni |
| FAMILY NAME | Nielsen |
| SIGNATURE | NIELSEN S B |
| AFFILIATIONS | National Research Centre for the Working Environment |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1077-5398 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 34 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 17 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
What can we learn from reviews of realist evaluation studies? Principles for rigorous realist evaluation
The realist evaluation approach has become firmly established within the field of evaluation. Reflecting its sustained and increasing uptake across diverse fields, a growing number of reviews have, over the years, examined practical applications of realist evaluations. Drawing on an umbrella review of 23 published reviews of realist evaluations, this article takes stock of key challenges in realist evaluation and proposes practical principles for…
Taking Stock of Contribution Analysis
Over the past two decades, contribution analysis (CA) has attracted considerable attention as a theory-based evaluation approach. Over the years, CA has been applied across a broad and still broadening range of settings and contexts. Informed by a comprehensive review of published articles on CA, this article examines the main methodological and theoretical developments of CA. The findings suggest that developments over the past 10 years have foc…
Capturing Evaluation Capacity
This article surveys the literature on organizational evaluation capacity (EC) instruments. Over the past 25 years, articles have been published in four waves covering the development of organizational evaluation capacity models, surveys of the evaluation capacity and practice landscape, the development of EC instruments, and their replication and adaptation. Altogether, the authors identified 20 studies applying 16 EC instruments. Several studie…
The Science and Practice of Evaluation Capacity Building
Evaluation capacity building (ECB) has become an integral part of the practice and profession of evaluation. Over 20 years, much has been learned about ECB, yet substantial room exists for continuing to expand our ECB scholarship and practice. In this special issue, the authors share insights from recent scholarship and training efforts that can serve as a launching point for the next generation of ECB
Concluding Remarks
Evaluation capacity building (ECB) seeks to provide individuals and organizations with the knowledge, skills, and systems that they need to make evaluation an ongoing part of their everyday activities. This special issue sought to advance ECB by bringing to light original empirical research as well as practical applications of various ECB approaches. This concluding article provides an overview of the eight contributions comprising the special is…
Policy utilisation of occupational safety and health research
How and when research knowledge is used differs between the three groups. It is important for researchers to tailor research communication to the particular needs of different stakeholders and interact directly with the elite actors and indirectly through lower level specialists from stakeholder organisations, and gain exposure through external sources such as the press and social media
Mapping the evaluation capacity building landscape
Mapping the Contributions of John Mayne
The late John Mayne’s contribution to evaluation was significant. This article maps his written contributions to evaluation. The authors analyze the number and types of publications produced by John Mayne from 1981 to 2020. They also identify the main themes in his authorship, and how they evolved over time. They further identify his most notable publications and use standard citation metrics to assess his academic impact. Finally, they take stoc…
Using Evaluative Information Sensibly
In this concluding article, we take stock of the diverse and stimulating contributions comprising this special issue. Using concept mapping, we identify eight evaluation themes and concepts central to John Mayne’s collective work: evaluation utilization, results-based management, organizational learning, accountability, evaluation culture, contribution analysis, theory-based evaluation, and causation. The overarching contribution story is that Jo…
Remembering John Mayne—A Practical Thinker and a Thinking Practitioner
The curious case of the realist trial
Realist evaluation and experimental designs are both well-established approaches to evaluation. Over the past 10 years, realist trials—evaluations purposefully combining realist evaluation and experimental designs—have emerged. Informed by a comprehensive review of published realist trials, this article examines to what extent and how realist trials align with quality standards for realist evaluations and randomized controlled trials and to what …
Unpacking context in realist evaluations
Realist evaluation is an established approach in evaluation. The main question driving realist evaluation is to uncover how, for whom, and under what conditions an intervention works. This is accomplished by empirically examining the inner mechanisms by which an intervention generates outcomes within a particular context—explicating the underlying context–mechanism–outcome configurations. Despite the central role of context in realist evaluation,…
A Nordic evaluation tradition? A look at the peer-reviewed evaluation literature
This article reports on a study that explored whether evidence can be found of a shared evaluation tradition among evaluation researchers and practitioners working in institutions in the Nordic countries. The study focused on articles in peer-reviewed, international, designated evaluation journals in the period 2000–12; it found little evidence from the analysis of these sources to support this claim. Meanwhile, the study found a clear preference…
Making contribution analysis work
This article examines the methodological strengths and weaknesses of contribution analysis. The authors contend that a salient characteristic of contribution analysis is its accounting for influencing factors and alternative explanations. We argue that contribution analysis in its current form needs further methodological and practical elaboration in this respect. Therefore, this article pays particular attention to how the methodology can identi…
Measuring Evaluation Capacity—Results and Implications of a Danish Study
Evaluation capacity building (ECB) has become an area in the evaluation field that is attracting both scholarly attention and the practical work of evaluators. Despite some recent contributions, differing conceptions still exist concerning what constitutes ECB, let alone the nature of the capacity being built. Responding to an earlier call on the need for conceptual clarity regarding evaluation capacity (EC), this article discusses a model and a …
Contribution Analysis Applied
This article investigates contribution analysis, an analytical tool invented by John Mayne, from both a theoretical and an operational perspective. Despite the substantial attention that contribution analysis has received, few studies appear to have applied it in practice. The article discusses the broadened scope of contribution analysis by analyzing its theoretical and methodological tenets, and examines its practical applicability in relation …
Improving Performance
This article focuses on what some sceptics see as disillusionment with conventional evaluation practice, in that many governments experience only limited use of evaluation findings.This has contributed to a significant increase in results-based performance measurement. Yet not everyone in the evaluation community welcomes this development.The authors make the point that significant complementarities exist between evaluation and performance measur…
Making contribution analysis work
This article examines the methodological strengths and weaknesses of contribution analysis. The authors contend that a salient characteristic of contribution analysis is its accounting for influencing factors and alternative explanations. We argue that contribution analysis in its current form needs further methodological and practical elaboration in this respect. Therefore, this article pays particular attention to how the methodology can identi…
Measuring Evaluation Capacity—Results and Implications of a Danish Study
Evaluation capacity building (ECB) has become an area in the evaluation field that is attracting both scholarly attention and the practical work of evaluators. Despite some recent contributions, differing conceptions still exist concerning what constitutes ECB, let alone the nature of the capacity being built. Responding to an earlier call on the need for conceptual clarity regarding evaluation capacity (EC), this article discusses a model and a …
Improving Performance
This article focuses on what some sceptics see as disillusionment with conventional evaluation practice, in that many governments experience only limited use of evaluation findings.This has contributed to a significant increase in results-based performance measurement. Yet not everyone in the evaluation community welcomes this development.The authors make the point that significant complementarities exist between evaluation and performance measur…
Policy utilisation of occupational safety and health research
How and when research knowledge is used differs between the three groups. It is important for researchers to tailor research communication to the particular needs of different stakeholders and interact directly with the elite actors and indirectly through lower level specialists from stakeholder organisations, and gain exposure through external sources such as the press and social media
The curious case of the realist trial
Realist evaluation and experimental designs are both well-established approaches to evaluation. Over the past 10 years, realist trials—evaluations purposefully combining realist evaluation and experimental designs—have emerged. Informed by a comprehensive review of published realist trials, this article examines to what extent and how realist trials align with quality standards for realist evaluations and randomized controlled trials and to what …
Improving Performance
This article focuses on what some sceptics see as disillusionment with conventional evaluation practice, in that many governments experience only limited use of evaluation findings.This has contributed to a significant increase in results-based performance measurement. Yet not everyone in the evaluation community welcomes this development.The authors make the point that significant complementarities exist between evaluation and performance measur…
Contribution Analysis Applied
This article investigates contribution analysis, an analytical tool invented by John Mayne, from both a theoretical and an operational perspective. Despite the substantial attention that contribution analysis has received, few studies appear to have applied it in practice. The article discusses the broadened scope of contribution analysis by analyzing its theoretical and methodological tenets, and examines its practical applicability in relation …
Measuring Evaluation Capacity—Results and Implications of a Danish Study
Evaluation capacity building (ECB) has become an area in the evaluation field that is attracting both scholarly attention and the practical work of evaluators. Despite some recent contributions, differing conceptions still exist concerning what constitutes ECB, let alone the nature of the capacity being built. Responding to an earlier call on the need for conceptual clarity regarding evaluation capacity (EC), this article discusses a model and a …
Making contribution analysis work
This article examines the methodological strengths and weaknesses of contribution analysis. The authors contend that a salient characteristic of contribution analysis is its accounting for influencing factors and alternative explanations. We argue that contribution analysis in its current form needs further methodological and practical elaboration in this respect. Therefore, this article pays particular attention to how the methodology can identi…
A Nordic evaluation tradition? A look at the peer-reviewed evaluation literature
This article reports on a study that explored whether evidence can be found of a shared evaluation tradition among evaluation researchers and practitioners working in institutions in the Nordic countries. The study focused on articles in peer-reviewed, international, designated evaluation journals in the period 2000–12; it found little evidence from the analysis of these sources to support this claim. Meanwhile, the study found a clear preference…
Unpacking context in realist evaluations
Realist evaluation is an established approach in evaluation. The main question driving realist evaluation is to uncover how, for whom, and under what conditions an intervention works. This is accomplished by empirically examining the inner mechanisms by which an intervention generates outcomes within a particular context—explicating the underlying context–mechanism–outcome configurations. Despite the central role of context in realist evaluation,…
Mapping the evaluation capacity building landscape
Mapping the Contributions of John Mayne
The late John Mayne’s contribution to evaluation was significant. This article maps his written contributions to evaluation. The authors analyze the number and types of publications produced by John Mayne from 1981 to 2020. They also identify the main themes in his authorship, and how they evolved over time. They further identify his most notable publications and use standard citation metrics to assess his academic impact. Finally, they take stoc…
Using Evaluative Information Sensibly
In this concluding article, we take stock of the diverse and stimulating contributions comprising this special issue. Using concept mapping, we identify eight evaluation themes and concepts central to John Mayne’s collective work: evaluation utilization, results-based management, organizational learning, accountability, evaluation culture, contribution analysis, theory-based evaluation, and causation. The overarching contribution story is that Jo…
Remembering John Mayne—A Practical Thinker and a Thinking Practitioner
The curious case of the realist trial
Realist evaluation and experimental designs are both well-established approaches to evaluation. Over the past 10 years, realist trials—evaluations purposefully combining realist evaluation and experimental designs—have emerged. Informed by a comprehensive review of published realist trials, this article examines to what extent and how realist trials align with quality standards for realist evaluations and randomized controlled trials and to what …
Capturing Evaluation Capacity
This article surveys the literature on organizational evaluation capacity (EC) instruments. Over the past 25 years, articles have been published in four waves covering the development of organizational evaluation capacity models, surveys of the evaluation capacity and practice landscape, the development of EC instruments, and their replication and adaptation. Altogether, the authors identified 20 studies applying 16 EC instruments. Several studie…
The Science and Practice of Evaluation Capacity Building
Evaluation capacity building (ECB) has become an integral part of the practice and profession of evaluation. Over 20 years, much has been learned about ECB, yet substantial room exists for continuing to expand our ECB scholarship and practice. In this special issue, the authors share insights from recent scholarship and training efforts that can serve as a launching point for the next generation of ECB
Concluding Remarks
Evaluation capacity building (ECB) seeks to provide individuals and organizations with the knowledge, skills, and systems that they need to make evaluation an ongoing part of their everyday activities. This special issue sought to advance ECB by bringing to light original empirical research as well as practical applications of various ECB approaches. This concluding article provides an overview of the eight contributions comprising the special is…
Policy utilisation of occupational safety and health research
How and when research knowledge is used differs between the three groups. It is important for researchers to tailor research communication to the particular needs of different stakeholders and interact directly with the elite actors and indirectly through lower level specialists from stakeholder organisations, and gain exposure through external sources such as the press and social media
Taking Stock of Contribution Analysis
Over the past two decades, contribution analysis (CA) has attracted considerable attention as a theory-based evaluation approach. Over the years, CA has been applied across a broad and still broadening range of settings and contexts. Informed by a comprehensive review of published articles on CA, this article examines the main methodological and theoretical developments of CA. The findings suggest that developments over the past 10 years have foc…
What can we learn from reviews of realist evaluation studies? Principles for rigorous realist evaluation
The realist evaluation approach has become firmly established within the field of evaluation. Reflecting its sustained and increasing uptake across diverse fields, a growing number of reviews have, over the years, examined practical applications of realist evaluations. Drawing on an umbrella review of 23 published reviews of realist evaluations, this article takes stock of key challenges in realist evaluation and proposes practical principles for…
Evaluation and Performance Assessment (16 works) · Computer Science (11 works) · Public Policy and Administration Research (10 works) · Engineering (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Epistemology (7 works) · Political science (6 works) · Engineering ethics (5 works) · Management science (5 works) · Psychology (5 works)