Dealing with context in logic model development: Reflections from a realist evaluation of a community health worker programme in Nigeria

Logic models (LMs) have been used in programme evaluation for over four decades. Current debate questions the ability of logic modelling techniques to incorporate contextual factors into logic models. We share experience of developing a logic model within an ongoing realist evaluation which assesses the extent to which, and under what circumstances a community health workers (CHW) programme promotes access to maternity services in Nigeria. The article contributes to logic modelling debate by: i) reflecting on how other scholars captured context during LM development in theory-driven evaluations; and ii) explaining how we explored context during logic model development for realist evaluation of the CHW programme in Nigeria. Data collection methods that informed our logic model development included documents review, email discussions and teleconferences with programme stakeholders and a technical workshop with researchers to clarify programme goals and untangle relationships among programme elements. One of the most important findings is that, rather than being an end in itself, logic model development is an essential step for identifying initial hypotheses for tentative relevant contexts, mechanisms and outcomes (CMOs) and CMO configurations of how programmes produce change. The logic model also informed development of a methodology handbook that is guiding verification and consolidation of underlying programme theories.     

穆旦与奥登：历史追问与现实反思——兼与江弱水先生商榷

江弱水在《外国文学评论》上发表的《伪奥登风与非中国性：重估穆旦》指出穆旦诗歌是对奥登诗歌的移译，而非中国性这一特征造成了穆旦诗歌的失败。而文本从选择奥登的原因、伪奥登风的消解、穆旦诗歌中的“非中国性”追问、传统与现代的反思等四个方面探讨和重新考察穆旦诗歌与奥登的关联，进而认为穆旦诗歌的特质与奥登并非密切相关。     

A Preliminary Evaluation of the 1-2-3-Magic Parenting Program in an Australian Community Services Setting

Cognitive-behavioural parenting programs provide caregivers with alternative strategies to harsh disciplining practices but the choice of programs that are evidence-based in Australia is limited. Australian community service workers suggest that having a choice of evidence-based programs is important when matching programs to client needs, and that 1-2-3 Magic is a program used widely in Australia despite its small Australian evidence base. The efficacy of the 1-2-3 Magic program has previously been shown in a controlled trial in an Australian university research setting but little is known about its effectiveness in a “real-world” setting. This study examined a three-session group-format of the Australian 1-2-3 Magic & Emotion Coaching program in a typical metropolitan community service setting. Thirty-eight caregivers with children aged 2–6 years reported a significant decrease in disruptive child behaviour (ECBI), permissive parenting (PS), and parental depression and stress (DASS) from pre- to post-intervention, with results maintained at 3-month follow-up. While these findings suggest that a brief 1-2-3 Magic program is beneficial, it is important to note that methodological limitations (intervention-group only study design and possible confounding variables) do not allow ruling out alternative causes for these improvements. Further research will be needed to confirm that this program can generalise to “real-world” settings.     

民国时期杭州拱宸桥娼妓业的治理(1912-1936)

民国以来,随着近代文明的发展、妇女解放思潮的渐次兴起,娼妓的悲惨境遇备受关注。在此背景下,杭州市政府于20世纪30年代发起了一场废娼运动,虽然成果与预期相差甚远,最后重新回到对公娼核发执照、征收妓捐的治娼模式,但是政府的废娼行动与济娼措施,表达了现代化政府的执政理念,是政治文明进步的重要体现。     

Opportunities and Challenges for Public Libraries to Enhance Community Resilience

This study bridges a gap between public library and emergency management policy versus practice by examining the role of public libraries in the community resource network for disaster recovery. Specifically, this study identifies the opportunities and challenges for public libraries to fulfill their role as a FEMA‐designated essential community organization and enhance community resilience. The results indicate there are several opportunities for libraries to enhance community resilience by offering technology resources and assistance; providing office, meeting, and community living room space; serving as the last redundant communication channel and a repository for community information and disaster narratives; and adapting or expanding services already offered to meet the changing needs of the community. However, libraries also face challenges in enhancing community resilience, including the temptation to overcommit library capacity and staff capability beyond the library mission and a lack of long‐term disaster plans and collaboration with emergency managers and government officials. Implications for library and emergency management practice and crisis research are discussed.     

Investment communities: Behavioral attitudes and economic dynamics

Using a real-world data set encompassing the daily portfolio holdings and exposures of complex investment funds, we derive a set of quantitative attributes to capture essential behavioral features of fund managers. We find the existence and stability of three investment attitudes, namely the conservative, the reactive, and the pro-active profiles, defining communities that respond differently when facing external shocks. The conservative community has behavioral similarities that tend to decrease due to external shocks, the reactive community members greatly increase their activity level especially during turmoil phases, while delegated investors in the pro-active community are more resilient to turbulence and counterbalance the impact of the events by adjusting their portfolio exposures in advance. We show that exogenous shocks only temporarily perturb the behavioral traits of the communities which then go back to their original states once the distress is embedded.     

Cultural metaphors as means to contextualised understanding of child and childhood

The conceptualizations about children and childhoods enrich our understanding of adult–child interactions, educational practice, policy and child-welfare interventions. This study explored 42 cultural metaphors drawn from diverse socio-economic, geographical and linguistic settings to construct Indian childhoods. The paper reports an interpretative analysis of reconstructions leading to a typology of metaphors-in-use. The conceptual-analytical exercise helped unpack nuances and contextual meanings of metaphors. The paper argues for richness and subtlety in theorising childhoods, which is multilayered, situated and intertwined with contextual issues and tensions. The study offers methodological, pedagogical and conceptual insights and proposes possibilities for using cultural tools into inquiring childhoods.     

Intimate partner violence in neighborhood context: The roles of structural disadvantage,subjective disorder,and emotional distress

Most theoretical treatments of intimate partner violence (IPV) focus on individual-level processes. Some researchers have attempted to situate IPV within the larger neighborhood context, but few studies have sought to link structural- and individual-level factors. The current analyses fill a research gap by examining the role of anger and depression in the association between neighborhood disadvantage and IPV. Using data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS) and the 2000 Census, this study focuses on structural indicators of disadvantage as well as subjective disorder, and highlights the complex associations between neighborhood conditions, emotional distress, and IPV. Findings indicate that anger and depressive symptoms partially explain the association between neighborhood disadvantage and IPV. Additionally, the associations between disadvantage, disorder, and IPV depend on respondent’s level of anger. Results underscore the need to further consider the role of neighborhood factors (both objective and subjective) in relation to IPV, and also suggest the utility of introducing individual-level emotional measures to assess the circumstances under which neighborhoods matter most.     

Assumptions,conjectures, and other miracles: The application of evaluative thinking to theory of change models in community development

Unexamined and unjustified assumptions are the Achilles’ heel of development programs. In this paper, we describe an evaluation capacity building (ECB) approach designed to help community development practitioners work more effectively with assumptions through the intentional infusion of evaluative thinking (ET) into the program planning, monitoring, and evaluation process. We focus specifically on one component of our ET promotion approach involving the creation and analysis of theory of change (ToC) models. We describe our recent efforts to pilot this ET ECB approach with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in Ethiopia and Zambia. The use of ToC models, plus the addition of ET, is a way to encourage individual and organizational learning and adaptive management that supports more reflective and responsive programming.     

Viewing the child as a participant within context

This paper explores tensions between the social nature of learning and the current emphasis upon individual support. The paper contrasts the focus upon context in discussions with parents and practitioners, with the focus upon the individual within formal and informal written documents. The analysis is partly situated within the first author’s experiences as a parent researcher, drawing additionally upon ethnographic research carried out with families involved in early intervention, including an evaluation of over 150 pages of documentation provided by a parent. It identifies the need for assessment and evaluation to focus upon and record the broad range of context that influences learning.