This is the book the realist community has been asking for. It offers "tricks of the realist trade", with useful tips for realist researchers and evaluators in areas from eliciting program theory and data gathering to understanding mechanisms. Reading the book is like eavesdropping on leaders in the field as they discuss each others’ work, and indicate future directions for realist approaches.

Emma Williams, Credentialed Evaluator, Charles Darwin University

This book is a feast to read and work with. With hands-on advice about realist methods, utilization and fieldwork as well as in-depth discussions around mechanisms, theories, and epistemology, it deserves a very warm welcome from realist and social researchers alike.

Frans L. Leeuw, Professor of Law, Public Policy and Social Science Research, Maastricht University

I wish all social science researchers would read this book – and then think much more carefully about the way they design and enact research studies. It sets out clearly the ideas of realistic or theory-driven evaluation, and brings together great wisdom and experience in doing such evaluations in practice.

Kieran Walshe, Professor of Health Policy & Management, University of Manchester

This book successfully combines cutting-edge accounts of the application of realist research with important discussions about its scope. Its appeal is enhanced by the inclusion of significant reflections on the development and current state of play of realist enquiry.

Sam Porter, Professor of Nursing Sociology, Head of Department of Social Sciences and Social Work, Bournemouth University

This book offers stimulating analyses of the development and application of a realist approach to evaluation, evidence synthesis, and empirical research generally. With illustrations from projects in which they have been involved, the authors illuminate key methodological topics, from the nature of causal mechanisms to the task of "impacting" on policymaking. Anyone with an interest in this approach, and especially in putting it into practice, will find the book essential reading.

Martyn Hammersley, Faculty of Wellbeing, Education & Language Studies, The Open University

This important book provides detailed, practical advice on using realist theories and methods in program evaluation and social research. In particular, it is pathbreaking in demonstrating the value of integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches in realist research.

Joseph Maxwell, Education, George Mason University

Doing Realist Research combines the foundations of the realist methodology with the very latest thinking in the application, and development, of the approach. From understanding mechanisms, and the formulation of programme theories, to understanding the role of complexity, and conducting economic evaluations. This engaging, easy to read book provides comprehensive advice and guidance for novices and experts alike.

Christina Cooper, Northumbria University

The clear explanations of Programme Theories, Contexts and Mechanisms enable the novice realist researcher to understand the methodology and design their study effectively. There were a number of helpful hints presented, such as the online PubVenn tool that graphically represents the fruits of a literature search. This is a must-have text-book for researchers undertaking a Realist Synthesis or a Realist Evaluation study, particularly masters and doctoral students

Kate Jack, Nursing Times

In using this book to inform my own research, in both public health and education, it was debates around the conceptualization of mechanisms (a central tenet in realist research), and the role of mechanisms within complex interventions and complex social environments which most captured my interest. These early chapters embody Campbell’s (1998) ‘disputative body of scholars’ as the widely accepted definition of mechanism is challenged, debated, and adapted to meet the needs of the research presented

Christina Cooper, Newcastle University