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BookWatch: Evidence-based Policy: a realist perspective

The author, Ray Pawson, informs readers in the preface to this book that what they are about to read is - The Best We Can Do By Way of Evidence-Based Policy: A Realist in One Sense of the Term Perspective - thus letting readers know that he is doing the best he can under the circumstances, and that the circumstances are quite daunting. If the reader has any doubts about the value of the current paradigm for research synthesis (meta-analysis) and the need for a new one, s/he is reminded that meta-analysis is charged with providing mistaken answers to misplaced questions.

Despite such levity in the preface, this is an excellent book for serious-minded researchers and policy makers. The first three chapters set the scene for the rest of the book. Chapter 4 introduces a new model of systematic review - realist synthesis - and discusses the principles and practice of this model. Further chapters provide examples and deepen understanding of realist synthesis, which is examined for its ability to inform policy in the final chapter.

The primary ambition of research synthesis is explanation-building, the author tells us. He continues by stating that the purpose of realist synthesis is to put into words underlying program theories and then to examine the existing evidence to discover whether and where the theories are efficacious. The hypotheses make the researcher think about and investigate w hat works, for whom, in what circumstances, and in what respects?

Pawson provides us with a different way to look at evidence and how evidence might inform policy. Realist synthesis may be difficult to undertake at first, because it is different, but will provide a deeper level of understanding what is happening from a body of evidence, and this may well be more useful to policy makers than information provided from a conventional systematic review or meta-analysis. This book is highly recommended.

Reference:
Pawson, R. 2006. Evidence-based Policy: a Realist Perspective. Sage Publications.