Contextualizing Causal Theories for Process Evaluation: What Makes or Breaks the Program?

Culbertson, Michael J.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/45104 Copy

Description

Title

Contextualizing Causal Theories for Process Evaluation: What Makes or Breaks the Program?

Author(s)

Culbertson, Michael J.

Issue Date

2013-06-28

Keyword(s)

• program evaluation
• program theory
• mechanisms
• causal reasoning
• process evaluation
• agricultural extension
• Uganda
• ICT4D

Abstract

Program theories often lay out causal mechanisms for how their activities are thought to achieve proposed goals. Sometimes, though, program theories seem to assume that each step in the causal chain proceeds automatically to the next, ignoring contextual factors that may impede or facilitate individuals’ movement through the chain. Understanding a program’s successes and failures requires going beyond simple causal mechanisms to investigate which facilitating and inhibiting factors are most significant in the program’s action. Explicitly augmenting a program theory with potential facilitating and inhibiting factors can provide a framework for designing a detailed process evaluation to uncover how the program succeeds or fails. Based on the knowledge of which contextual factors are most important in controlling movement through the theory of action, program designs can be adjusted to capitalize on facilitating factors and mitigate inhibiting factors. In this workshop, we will practice identifying relevant facilitating and inhibiting contextual factors and think about how an augmented program theory can inform evaluation design. Illustrations will come from an ongoing evaluation of the Community Knowledge Worker (CKW) program, a community-based farmer education program in rural Uganda.

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/45104

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