Institute for Musculoskeletal Health, The University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health District, Camperdown, NSW 2050, Australia.
Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Aug 27;18(17):9065. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18179065.
Realist evaluation offers a valuable way to understand how interventions function and thus how they can be improved and locally adapted. Consequently, realist evaluation is increasingly conducted in parallel with intervention trials. It comprises a clear philosophical foundation and view of causality, pragmatic mixed data collection methods, and a theory-driven approach in which hypothesised program theories are tested and refined. However, detailed methods for data analysis are seldom well-described in realist studies and no clear method for analysing and presenting realist evaluation data has yet emerged. In this methodological paper we use the worked example of our realist process evaluation of the SAGE yoga trial to illustrate an applied process of data analysis and presentation of findings. We show how we drew on other realist studies for ideas, provide examples of six key tasks involved in conducting a realist process evaluation (including coding data and structuring results) and describe strategies that did not work and our rationale for rejecting them. This detailed account of the decisions and methods that worked for us is intended to provide a practical and informed point of departure for researchers conducting a realist evaluation.
现实主义评价提供了一种有价值的方法，可以了解干预措施的作用，从而改进和适应当地的干预措施。因此，现实主义评价越来越多地与干预试验并行进行。它包括一个明确的哲学基础和因果关系观点、实用的混合数据收集方法，以及一种理论驱动的方法，其中假设的项目理论得到了检验和完善。然而，现实主义研究中很少详细描述详细的数据分析方法，也没有出现明确的分析和呈现现实主义评价数据的方法。在本方法学论文中，我们使用了对 SAGE 瑜伽试验的现实主义过程评价的实例研究来说明数据分析和结果呈现的应用过程。我们展示了如何从其他现实主义研究中汲取灵感，提供了进行现实主义过程评价涉及的六个关键任务的示例（包括对数据进行编码和构建结果），并描述了不起作用的策略及其被拒绝的理由。我们希望详细说明对我们有效的决策和方法，为进行现实主义评价的研究人员提供一个实用和明智的起点。
