Making rigorous causal claims in a real-life context
Has research contributed to sustainable forest management
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12567595 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Thomas Delahais (0000-0002-0991-5085, Evaluator at Quadrant Conseil), Jacques Toulemonde (Independent evaluation expert, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 370-388 |
| Publication date | 2017-10-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Evaluation (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1356-3890 • E-ISSN: 1461-7153 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1356389017733211 |
| OpenAlex | W2766221024 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 22 |
This article reflects on an evaluation commissioned by the Centre for International Forestry Research, an international research centre working on tropical forests. In the Congo basin, it took from 10 to 20 years for research works to influence the sustainability of forest management through a complex web of interactions between timber companies, national governments, international organizations, development agencies, NGOs, and consultancies. By applying the contribution analysis approach, the evaluation was able to trace several causal pathways which percolated through this web of interactions and resulted in a number of contributions always indirect and marginal but sometimes necessary. The article discusses how contribution claims were inferred from evidence, what the underlying logic of causal arguments was, how some contributions could be qualified as necessary ones, and how far the evaluation went on the way to generalization. The discussion bridges contribution analysis with process tracing and realist evaluation
Context (archaeology · Economics · Environmental resource management · Forest management · Geography · Management science · Political science · Process (computing · Regional science · Sociology · Sustainability · Sustainable forest management · Computer Science · Evaluation and Performance Assessment · Forest Management and Policy · Qualitative Comparative Analysis Research · Ecology · Forestry
Negotiating local versus global needs in the International Long Term Ecological Research Network’s socio-ecological research agenda
Taking Stock of Contribution Analysis
Applying Theory of Change in research program planning
Conversations in Evaluation – Exploring 30 years of debates in our field
A graphical method for causal program attribution in theory-based evaluation
Fostering sustainable urbanization
Social learning communities of practice as mechanisms for sustainable tourism
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Amplifying Insights
Process-Tracing Methods
Evidence-based Policy
Case Study Research
The Paris Declaration Evaluation Process and Methods
Addressing Attribution through Contribution Analysis
Validity and generalization in future case study evaluations
The contribution of process tracing to theory-based evaluations of complex aid instruments
Contribution analysis
Between complexity and generalization
Applying contribution analysis
Making contribution analysis work
Integrating theory-based evaluation and process tracing in the evaluation of civil society gender budget initiatives
A practical example of Contribution Analysis to a public health intervention
Process Tracing and Bayesian Updating for impact evaluation
The Qualitative Method of Impact Analysis
Process Tracing and Contribution Analysis
Why Triangulate
Is China unique? Exploring the behaviour of Chinese and European firms in the Cameroonian logging sector
Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences
Unpacking Black Boxes
Understanding Process Tracing
Comparative Hypothesis Testing Via Process Tracing
| Citations per year | 1.13 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2018 - 2026 (9) |
| Highly cited | No |