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Adapting realist synthesis methodology: The case of workplace harassment interventions
Author(s) -
Carr Tracey,
Quinlan Elizabeth,
Robertson Susan,
Gerrard Angie
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
research synthesis methods
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.376
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1759-2887
pISSN - 1759-2879
DOI - 10.1002/jrsm.1261
Subject(s) - harassment , psychological intervention , management science , computer science , conceptual framework , macro , knowledge management , sociology , psychology , epistemology , social psychology , social science , economics , philosophy , psychiatry , programming language
Realist synthesis techniques can be used to assess complex interventions by extracting and synthesizing configurations of contexts, mechanisms, and outcomes found in the literature. Our novel and multi‐pronged approach to the realist synthesis of workplace harassment interventions describes our pursuit of theory to link macro and program level theories. After discovering the limitations of a dogmatic approach to realist synthesis, we adapted our search strategy and focused our analysis on a subset of data. We tailored our realist synthesis to understand how, why, and under what circumstances workplace harassment interventions are effective. The result was a conceptual framework to test our theory‐based interventions and provide the basis for subsequent realist evaluation. Our experience documented in this article contributes to an understanding of how, under what circumstances, and with what consequences realist synthesis principles can be customized.