How can a Realist Evaluation Adhere to the Indigenous Research Principles? An Evaluation Protocol of a Health Research Capacity Strengthening Programme

Background: There is increasing demand for culturally responsive and contextually appropriate evaluation tools that can promote transformative change in the African development space. One way to address this demand is by adapting the existing Western-based evaluation theories to ensure that they are sensitive to the African settings. This protocol describes how the realist evaluation, which is a Western-based approach, would be implemented in a manner that respects the indigenous research principles. The study would be positioned within the African Research Initiative for Scientific Excellence (ARISE) programme – a research capacity strengthening initiative. Methods and Analysis: A multiple case study design will be used, specifically targeting three purposively selected research projects. Initial programme theories (IPTs) will be elicited through review of the ARISE programme documents, focus group discussions with project level stakeholders and beneficiaries and review of published literature. Qualitative methods will then be applied to test the IPTs. Interviews with the Principal Investigators (PIs), research collaborators, PIs’ mentors, finance and grants management (research support) staff and partners; (b) participant observation with the PIs and (c) storytelling sessions with the masters/PhD trainees. Retroductive theorising will be applied in data analysis. Deductive reasoning will seek to identify Contexts, Mechanism and Outcomes (CMOs) that are aligned with the IPTs. New CMOs will be inductively identified. The indigenous principles will be infused in different stages of the evaluation. Conclusion: This study will be the first of its kind to explore how the realist evaluation approach can be indigenised in an African setting. Tensions and incompatibilities between the realist evaluation approach and the indigenous research principles will be reported as part of the study results. An ‘indigenous-inspired realist evaluation’ framework will be suggested based on the reflections on the evaluation methods and processes which could be tested and refined by researchers in Africa.