Using Realist Interviews to Improve Theory on the Mechanisms and Outcomes of Sport for Development Programmes

Kirsten Thecla Verkooijen, Sabina Super, Lisanne Sofie Mulderij, Dico de Jager and Annemarie Wagemakers
Additional contact information
Kirsten Thecla Verkooijen: Chair Group Health and Society, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands
Sabina Super: Chair Group Health and Society, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands
Lisanne Sofie Mulderij: Chair Group Health and Society, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands
Dico de Jager: Chair Group Health and Society, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands
Annemarie Wagemakers: Chair Group Health and Society, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands

Social Inclusion, 2020, vol. 8, issue 3, 152-161

Abstract: The complex nature of Sport for Development (SfD) programmes makes impact evaluation challenging. Realist evaluation has been proposed as a new, theory-driven approach to evaluate complex programmes. The present study aimed to explore the value of conducting realist interviews to gain improved insight into the mechanisms and outcomes of three SfD programmes in the Netherlands: a programme that promotes sports participation among socially vulnerable youth; a combined lifestyle intervention for adults of low social economic status; and a sports-based programme for marginalised adults. In addition, the study aimed to investigate the applicability of a conceptual model from the field of social enterprise (Roy, Baker, & Kerr, 2017) as the preliminary programme theory for those interviews. First, for each programme, a realist interview was conducted with one researcher as the key informant. Thereafter, the findings from and experiences with the individual realist interviews were discussed among the informants in a group meeting. The results revealed that the conceptual model functioned well as preliminary programme theory for the SfD programmes. The realist interviews contributed to theoretical awareness and trustworthiness. Importantly, the interviews highlighted knowledge gaps and generated ideas for programme improvement. Hence, the realist interview technique is recommended as a methodological tool to generate, validate, and improve programme theory in the field of SfD. This study had, however, an explorative character, and more research is needed to confirm and generalize the findings and to learn how a greater number of stakeholders might contribute to this type of realist evaluation.

Keywords: health promotion; programme theory; realist evaluation; social inclusion; sport for development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/2747 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:socinc:v8:y:2020:i:3:p:152-161

DOI: 10.17645/si.v8i3.2747

Access Statistics for this article

Social Inclusion is currently edited by Mariana Pires

More articles in Social Inclusion from Cogitatio Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by António Vieira () and IT Department ().