Developing Initial Middle Range Theories in Realist Evaluation: A Case of an Organisational Intervention

Hamid Roodbari, Karina Nielsen, Carolyn Axtell, Susan E. Peters and Glorian Sorensen
Additional contact information
Hamid Roodbari: Institute for Work Psychology, Sheffield University Management School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
Karina Nielsen: Institute for Work Psychology, Sheffield University Management School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
Carolyn Axtell: Institute for Work Psychology, Sheffield University Management School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
Susan E. Peters: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Glorian Sorensen: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 16, 1-17

Abstract: (1) Background: Realist evaluation is a promising approach for evaluating organisational interventions. Crucial to realist evaluation is the development and testing of middle range theories (MRTs). MRTs are programme theories that outline how the intervention mechanisms work in a specific context to bring about certain outcomes. To the best of our knowledge, no organisational intervention study has yet developed initial MRTs. This study aimed to develop initial MRTs based on qualitative evidence from the development phase of an organisational intervention in a large multi-national organisation, the US food service industry. (2) Methods: Data were collected through 20 semi-structured interviews with the organisation?s managers, five focus groups with a total of 30 employees, and five worksite observations. Template analysis was used to analyse data. (3) Results: Four initial MRTs were developed based on four mechanisms of participation, leadership commitment, communication, and tailoring the intervention to fit the organisational context to formulate ‘what may work for whom in which circumstances?’ in organisational interventions; (4) Conclusions: Our findings provide insights into ‘how’ and ‘which’ initial MRTs can be developed in organisational interventions.

Keywords: realist evaluation; organisational interventions; context–mechanism–outcome configuration; middle range theory; mechanism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/16/8360/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/16/8360/ (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:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:16:p:8360-:d:610079

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().