Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Eval Program Plann. 2021 Dec;89:102008. doi: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2021.102008. Epub 2021 Sep 20.
The complex ways in which food security actions lead to nutrition and other health outcomes make it important to clarify what programs work and how, with theory-driven evaluation emerging as a promising approach to evaluate complex programs. However, it is unclear how and why theory-driven evaluation is applied in food security contexts. Our objective is to examine the development and use of Theory of Change and Realist Evaluation to support food security programs globally. Using a systematic search and screening process, we included studies that described a food security program, used a Theory of Change or Realist Evaluation, and presented original research or evaluations. We found a total of 59 relevant Theory of Change studies and eight Realist Evaluation studies. Based on our analysis, Theories of Change arose in response to three main problems: 1) the need to evaluate under complexity; 2) challenges with evaluation; and, 3) information gaps surrounding a program. In contrast, Realist Evaluation was reported to be developed primarily to understand a program's outcomes. Reflecting on the problem to be addressed in the evaluation would help improve understandings of the evaluation context, which would then inform the choice and design of an evaluation approach.
食品安全行动如何导致营养和其他健康结果的复杂方式使得澄清哪些项目有效以及如何有效变得非常重要，理论驱动的评估作为评估复杂项目的一种有前途的方法而出现。然而，目前尚不清楚理论驱动的评估是如何以及为何在食品安全背景下应用的。我们的目标是研究在全球范围内支持食品安全计划的变革理论和现实主义评估的发展和使用。我们使用系统的搜索和筛选过程，纳入了描述食品安全计划、使用变革理论或现实主义评估以及提出原创研究或评估的研究。我们共发现了 59 项相关的变革理论研究和 8 项现实主义评估研究。基于我们的分析，变革理论的出现是为了应对三个主要问题：1）需要在复杂性下进行评估；2）评估的挑战；以及 3）围绕一个项目的信息差距。相比之下，现实主义评估据报道主要是为了了解一个项目的结果。反思评估中要解决的问题将有助于更好地理解评估背景，从而为评估方法的选择和设计提供信息。
