Theorizing how interventions work in evaluation:: Process-tracing methods and theorizing process theories of change

Gabriela Clara A Camacho Garland; Derek Beach

doi:10.1177/13563890231201876

Theorizing how interventions work in evaluation: Process-tracing methods and theorizing process theories of change

Gabriela Clara A Camacho Garland^*, Derek Beach

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Political Science

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This article argues for the importance of theory and theorizing for an evaluation in the form of a process theory of change. A process theory of change centers its theoretical attention on key episodes that explain how things worked, in which the causal linkages are unpacked. The key lies in answering why actors do what they do (and thus whether these actions can be traced back to the intervention). This theorization has three steps: (1) definition of intervention and potential contribution; (2) theorization of potential contribution pathways; and (3) unpacking the process. This procedure is illustrated with a hypothetical example.

Original language	English
Journal	Evaluation: The International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice
Volume	29
Issue	4
Pages (from-to)	390-409
Number of pages	20
ISSN	1356-3890
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/13563890231201876
Publication status	Published - 2023

Keywords

causal linkages
process theory of change
process tracing
theory of change
theory-based evaluation

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10.1177/13563890231201876

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abstract = "This article argues for the importance of theory and theorizing for an evaluation in the form of a process theory of change. A process theory of change centers its theoretical attention on key episodes that explain how things worked, in which the causal linkages are unpacked. The key lies in answering why actors do what they do (and thus whether these actions can be traced back to the intervention). This theorization has three steps: (1) definition of intervention and potential contribution; (2) theorization of potential contribution pathways; and (3) unpacking the process. This procedure is illustrated with a hypothetical example.",

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Theorizing how interventions work in evaluation: Process-tracing methods and theorizing process theories of change. / Camacho Garland, Gabriela Clara A; Beach, Derek.
In: Evaluation: The International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, Vol. 29, No. 4, 2023, p. 390-409.

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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Theorizing how interventions work in evaluation: Process-tracing methods and theorizing process theories of change

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Keywords

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