Clarifying the role of belief-motive explanations in multi-stakeholder realist evaluation. (June 2020) - Evans, S.
Highlights: The relevance of stakeholders' belief-motive explanations ('we believe the program works') in realist evaluation is clarified and discussed. Using case exemplars, demonstration of how stakeholders' belief-motive explanations can shape realist evaluation. Discussion of how evaluators can adjudicate stakeholder explanations of change that relate to beliefs about program worth. Lessons for evaluators in incorporating belief- motive explanations and managing tensions are discussed. Abstract: In realist evaluation, where researchers aim to make program theories explicit, they can encounter competing explanations as to how programs work. Managing explanatory tensions from different sources of evidence in multi-stakeholder projects can challenge external evaluators, especially when access to pertinent data, like client records, is mediated by program stakeholders. In this article, we consider two central questions: how can program stakeholder motives shape a realist evaluation project; and how might realist evaluators respond to stakeholders' belief-motive explanations, including those about program effectiveness, based on factors such as supererogatory commitment or trying together in good faith? Drawing on our realist evaluation of a service reform initiative involving multiple agencies, we describe stakeholder motives at key phases, highlighting a need for tactics and skills that help to manage explanatory tensions. In conclusion, the relevance of stakeholders' belief-motive explanations ('we believe the program works') in realist evaluation is clarified and discussed.