Unpacking Black Boxes: Mechanisms and Theory Building in Evaluation
Unpacking Black Boxes: Mechanisms and Theory Building in Evaluation
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DOI：
10.1177/1098214010371972
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发表时间：
2010-09-01
影响因子：
1.7
通讯作者：
Leeuw, Frans L.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Astbury, Brad;Leeuw, Frans L.
在社会科学的许多领域，人们对“机制”的概念越来越感兴趣。在项目和政策评估领域，一些学者也强调了因果机制在解释项目如何以及为什么有效方面的重要性。然而，在社会科学和评估文献中，对机制思维的含义和用途似乎存在一些模糊不清的地方。在这篇文章中，我们试图通过识别机制的三个主要特征和概述机制的可能类型来澄清机制在项目评估中的含义。一些理论和实践的影响，评估也进行了讨论，沿着一些注意事项，以考虑在调查机制，可能合理地占程序的结果。
There is growing interest in the concept of ''mechanism'' across many areas of the social sciences. In the field of program and policy evaluation, a number of scholars have also emphasized the importance of causal mechanisms for explaining how and why programs work. However, there appears to be some ambiguity about the meaning and uses of mechanism-based thinking in both the social science and evaluation literature. In this article we attempt to clarify what is meant by mechanisms in the context of program evaluation by identifying three main characteristics of mechanisms and outlining a possible typology of mechanisms. A number of theoretical and practical implications for evaluators are also discussed, along with some precautions to consider when investigating mechanisms that might plausibly account for program outcomes.