Hi Barbara

Here are two papers you might find useful. The RE was of a national maternity care programme aimed at promoting natural childbirth. I was very keen to stick to the Pawson and Tilley definition of mechanisms as changes that occur in people's reasoning and actions. So this might prove useful as an example. 
Best wishes 
Purva 

Dr. Purva Abhyankar
NMAHP Research Unit
University of Stirling
Unit 13 Scion House
Stirling University Innovation Park
Stirling
FK9 4NF

Phone: +44 (0)1786 466 102
Email: [log in to unmask]


Latest papers:
Abhyankar P, Bekker, HL, Summers, BA, Velikova, G. Framing Options as Choice or Opportunity: Does the Frame Influence Decisions? Medical Decision Making 34: 567 DOI 10.1177/0272989X14529624

Abhyankar P, Volk R, Blumenthal-Barby J, Bravo P, Buchholz A, Ozanne E, et al. Balancing the presentation of information and options in patient decision aids: an updated review. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making 2013;13(Suppl 2):S6.

Laterst Methodological papers 
Abhyankar P, Cheyne H, Maxwell M, Harris F and McCourt C. (2013) A realist evaluation of a normal birth programme. Evidence Based Midwifery, 11(4): 112-119.

Latest NMAHP RU Newsletter:
NMAHP Research Unit Newsletter - Winter 2013


-----Original Message-----
From: Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Synthesis: Evolving Standards [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Barbara Maxwell
Sent: 09 July 2014 07:59
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: A new particiant question regarding mechanisms

Dear fellow RAMESES participants,
this is my first post on the list serve ( oh my, that does sound like an introduction at an AA meeting) and I was hoping for a little advice.
I am engaged in a study of interprofessional clinical education for pre-qualification healthcare professional students and am attempting to conduct a realist evaluation. The design is structured around the application of the realist cycle. In reviewing the literature where a realist evaluation has been stated as being used in IPE evaluative studies, I have noticed that context is dealt with well in the majority of studies, but mechanisms are not. It appears that many studies elude to mechanisms but the items they identify are more characteristic of features of the program design, or could be argued to be context items, and do not describe the interaction of resources and reasoning. The studies also do not appear go to the stage of identifying CMOC theories.
I wanted to ask if this a common issue in realist evaluation studies and ask for some recommendations for studies that the RAMESES community would recommend as exemplars of realist evaluation.


Barbara Maxwell
Professor & University Director of Interprofessional Education & Collaboration A. T. Still University
5850 E Still Circle
Mesa AZ 85142
USA
[log in to unmask]
480 219 6109



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