Dear Justin,

I delivered a presentation (some method musings…) on realist evaluation and methods in anthropology during the MAGIC 2015 conference of European social anthropologists last year (see attached).
Would be great to further exchange…

Enjoy,

Sara Van Belle
Post-Doctoral fellow
Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium
From: "Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Synthesis: Evolving Standards" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> on behalf of Trish Greenhalgh <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Reply-To: "Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Synthesis: Evolving Standards" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>, Trish Greenhalgh <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Date: Tuesday 14 June 2016 at 06:32
To: "[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Subject: Re: Realism and Erthnography

Justin and all
Personally, I think COMs are a social construction. There, I’ve said it.
Good discussion!

Trisha Greenhalgh
Professor of Primary Care Health Sciences

[cid:D9751AC9-943C-462D-9AB4-815500AB7336]
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Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford
Radcliffe Primary Care Building, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Woodstock Road, Oxford, OX2 6GG

From: Justin McNab <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Reply-To: "Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Synthesis: Evolving Standards" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>, Justin McNab <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Date: Tuesday, 14 June 2016 01:24
To: "[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Subject: Realism and Erthnography

Dear Becky

I am a medical anthropologist currently working in the field implementation science, evaluation etc – for the last 6 years or so around integration and co-ordination of care for the chronically ill.

As a social anthropologist I have been aware, for many years, of the great importance of context (in all its myriad guises and forms) so the realist approach, while interesting, was not the revelation to me it was for some others who work with strict program logic approaches to evaluation etc. I attended the Liverpool CARES conference at the end of 2014 and found it interesting and informative, and was heartened that those employing realist approaches are a broad multi-disciplinary church with room for those right up the positivist end of the scale to those right up the interpretive constructionist end of the spectrum. As a social anthropologist I am, perhaps not surprisingly, more up the interpretive constructionist end of the 'realist scale’.

I very much like your take on the 'realist movement' for want of a better way of putting it. I agree wholeheartedly with your view that
CMOs are a tool to think with and aid in the production of knowledge, and clearly, as you also say, that realist approaches are a flexible and interpretive approach to understanding and explaining complex phenomena rather than a method.

Of course, as an anthropologist, I’m not so interested in certainty and a rigid application of a realist approach and identification CMO bundles.

Anyway, all a bit of a rambling introduction to say I am very interested in your ideas on realist approaches to ethnography. I will not be able to attend your workshop (or the CARES conference) this year but would be very interested in any presentations, materials etc you might make publicly available.

Regards

Justin McNab

JUSTIN McNAB | Lecturer in Health Policy | Research Fellow
Menzies Centre for Health Policy
THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY
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From: "Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Synthesis: Evolving Standards" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> on behalf of "Hardwick, Rebecca" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Reply-To: "Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Synthesis: Evolving Standards" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>, "Hardwick, Rebecca" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Date: Friday, 10 June 2016 7:02 pm
To: "[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Subject: Re: CARES 2016 - Registration now open!

Hi Alan,

Personally, my take on the whole CMO thing, is that CMOs are “just” a tool to think with, to help the researcher in her task of organising her thoughts, with programme theory development and refinement. I think they’re an aid to producing knowledge.

I also think that as realist approaches are an approach to understanding and explaining complex phenomena, and not a method per se, then they are open to both flex and interpretation.  This is a good thing, but our human tendency is to want certainty, which the CMO configuration can (?mistakenly) offer. That’s why I think sometimes it gets the airtime it does.

I am hopeful that there will be use of CMOs in work presented at the conference, as I think the CMO is a useful construct when used in the task of producing knowledge (rather than an end in itself), but like you, I also hope there will be opportunities to reflect on different ways that scientific realism can be interpreted and used.   For my part, I will be running a session on a realist approach in ethnography, and currently I think it would be quite unlikely that would only focus on CMOs.

Hope that helps,

Cheers,
Becky.


Rebecca Hardwick
PhD Student

01392 727408
Email:  [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>

From: Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Synthesis: Evolving Standards [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Alan Taylor
Sent: 10 June 2016 01:19
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: CARES 2016 - Registration now open!

Hi All,

Thanks for the notice on the workshops. Can I ask a frank question?

I do not find the rigid Context-Mechanism-Outcome formula very useful. It is too static for me to help explain the struggles that take place over and within contexts, mechanisms and outcomes. Nevertheless the (critical) realist approach is an advance that should be valued.

Given this I am wondering if attendance at the CARES conference or workshops would be worth the investment in time and money if only the strict CMO approach is going to be the main theme, or will there be opportunities to explore challenges and development of these methods?

Any views would be most welcome!

Regards,
Alan Taylor

From: Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Synthesis: Evolving Standards [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jagosh, Justin
Sent: Friday, 10 June 2016 8:10 AM
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: CARES 2016 - Registration now open!

Dear Colleagues,
I am pleased to announce that registration is now open for the 2nd International CARES Conference and can be accessed via the University of Liverpool's online store:

ttp://payments.liv.ac.uk/browse/product.asp?compid=1&modid=2&catid=70<https://owa.liv.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?REF=6W56RkXqM9oo4fmm7HNJC76aWLVoA-t3ejzdDf9DFKnUrjHorJDTCAFodHRwOi8vcGF5bWVudHMubGl2LmFjLnVrL2Jyb3dzZS9wcm9kdWN0LmFzcD9jb21waWQ9MSZtb2RpZD0yJmNhdGlkPTcw>

if the link doesn't work type:
http://payments.liv.ac.uk
and then 'Conferences &Events' and then 'Events at Liverpool' and then 'CARES'

For Professionals -     a reminder that early bird prices end on July 15th.
For Students -             the student rate is deeply discounted and there are only 80 spaces. It is in your best interest to register early!

For fee information, please visit the on-line store, or www.liv.ac.uk/cares.<http://www.liv.ac.uk/cares.>

The CARES conference planning committee has assembled a diverse range of pre-conference workshops and a post-conference day to be held at the University of Liverpool, London Campus. Please see attached file for workshop descriptions - and please feel free to circulate in your networks.

Note that you can register for the pre-conference day even if you are not planning on attending the conference - click on 'pre-conference day only' when registering through the on-line store.

Information and special rates for hotel accommodation around the venue will be announced soon! stay tuned...

sincerely,
Justin

2nd International Conference on Realist Evaluation and Synthesis:
Advancing Principles, Strengthening Practice
October 2nd - 6th, 2016
University of Liverpool, London Campus
Barbican Conference Centre
London
Justin Jagosh, Ph.D
Senior Research Fellow
Centre for Advancement in Realist Evaluation and Synthesis (CARES)
University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
www.liverpool.ac.uk/cares<http://www.liverpool.ac.uk/cares>

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