Realist evaluation looks at what mechanisms and contexts produce specific outcomes. Realist evaluation assumes that the same intervention will not work everywhere and for everyone, because context makes a difference to program processes and outcomes. Realist evaluation looks to answer the question “What works, for whom, in what respects, to what extent, in what contexts, and how?” The term was first used in 1997 by Pawson and Tiley in their book An Introduction to Scientific Realist Evaluation.

See also: mechanisms, context, outcome

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