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Glossary

Realist review

 

A theory-orientated and explanatory approach to evidence synthesis.

Glossary

Summary (bullet points)

  • It interrogates the literature to understand how an intervention produces its effects i.e. to explain what works, for whom, in what circumstances, in what respects and why.
  • A core element of a realist review is the development of a programme theory of how an intervention is supposed to work.
  • A realist review adopts a generative approach to causation: to suggest a causal outcome (O) between two events (x and y), we need to understand the underlying mechanism (M) that links them and the context (C) in which the relationship occurs.

Classification (s)

Research term

Classification (s)

Evidence synthesis

Foundational paper (s)

RAMESES publication standards: realist syntheses RAMESES Training Materials