Next Realist Hive meeting 26th October, 12:30-13:30, Room 1.22 South Cloisters, St Luke’s.

It’s all about the programme theories

Hello, my name is Lisa Burrows and I’m a PenCLAHRC PhD student. For the next realist hive, I am going to deliver a session on programme theories. Realist research seeks to explore how and why a programme works through the development and refinement of programme theories. Pawson and Tilley (1997, pxv) describe them as the ‘conceptual backbone’ where researchers construct explanations about a programme through context-mechanism-outcome configurations. However, translating ideas, literature and research findings, into concise and clear programme theories is challenging. Using my PhD project as a template, I will discuss the stages I have gone through so far in developing explanations about the programme I am studying, and the next steps for testing and refinement.
During this session there will also be some small group work, where you will develop your own programme theory/theories.
I look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday October 26th.
Lisa Burrows.