Building capacity in realist methods in international development: Ideals, Realities & Practicalities

Realist evaluation is increasing in popularity in international development initiatives, programmes and policies. However, there seem to be extra challenges for following the realist approach within the context of... [ view full abstract ]

Realist evaluation is increasing in popularity in international development initiatives, programmes and policies. However, there seem to be extra challenges for following the realist approach within the context of international development projects.
This roundtable will present examples of realist evaluations in international development and will focus on how building capacity takes place in such collaborations. It will examine challenges like how to ensure data collection by proxy and how to do realist analysis in multi-partner consortia across different continents. It will consist of leading realist evaluators who are working in international development projects in Africa and Asia. This roundtable aims to advance methodological realist principles and strengthen practice by learning from applied case studies. The presentation should be of interest to evaluators, policymakers, consultants and researchers interested in the practical application of realist evaluation in international development. It will also attract academics interested in how the evaluation context challenges, refines and strengthens realist evaluation methodological guidance.
This panel will consist of two parts: The first part will focus on case studies of projects that applied realist evaluation, identify building capacity strategies and reflect on the main methodological challenges encountered. Each presentation will be restricted to a maximum of 10 minutes. The second part of the panel will be a discussion around four sets of questions, related to capacity building, programme theory and data collection, analysis, and learnings. Panellists will discuss areas of progress and areas that need further methodological development in applications of realist approaches in international development.
(a) Capacity Building: How were the international teams familiarized with the realist approach? What were the main approaches to capacity building (face to face vs webinars vs on-job support) and strengths and weaknesses of each approach.
(b) Programme theory and data collection: What specific data were collected to test the CMO configurations? What were the main challenges to quantitative and qualitative realist data collection? What was the international team input in programme theory development?
(d) Analysis: What specific analytical strategies were implemented and what were the contextual and practical challenges?
(e) Learnings: What are specific examples of learnings around how does realist evaluation work in the context of international development evaluations? How was the realist evaluation approach modified in light of the learnings from applying it in international development?
Case studies will be followed by Q&A and a space for the audience to share their experiences of strengths and weaknesses of the realist approach in international development.
This panel will be chaired by Bruno Marchal (Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp).
The Case Study presenters will be:
Ana Manzano, School of Sociology & Social Policy, University of Leeds (A.Manzano@leeds.ac.uk)
Sara Van Belle, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp ( svanbelle@itg.be)
Melanie Punton, ITAD (Melanie.Punton@itad.com)
N. S. Prashanth, Institute of Public Health, Bangalore (prashanthns@iphindia.org)