Abstract
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 29-48 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Evaluation |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2016 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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OPALesence: Epistemological pluralism in the evaluation of a systems-wide childhood obesity prevention program. / Jones, Michelle; Verity, Fiona; Warin, Megan; Ratcliffe, Julie; Cobiac, Lynne; Swinburn, Boyd; CARGO, Margaret.
In: Evaluation, Vol. 22, No. 1, 2016, p. 29-48.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - OPALesence: Epistemological pluralism in the evaluation of a systems-wide childhood obesity prevention program
AU - Jones, Michelle
AU - Verity, Fiona
AU - Warin, Megan
AU - Ratcliffe, Julie
AU - Cobiac, Lynne
AU - Swinburn, Boyd
AU - CARGO, Margaret
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - The evaluation of complex systems-wide public health interventions requires evaluation research that is underpinned by theory. This article presents and discusses the trans-disciplinary evaluation research framework developed to support the evaluation of a South Australian program called OPAL (Obesity Prevention and Lifestyle). The aim is to provide insights into the research design, methods and implementation of the evaluation and contribute to the debate on how to evaluate community-based interventions with complicated and complex aspects. In an attempt to capture the complexity of childhood obesity and the intervention, the OPAL evaluation research employs post positivist, interpretive and critical epistemologies, valuing epistemological pluralism. Each component of the multi-phase mixed methods evaluation captures different yet complementary information concerning the context, process, cost effectiveness and outcomes providing a more complete understanding of the impacts of the complex program. Evaluation research is not without challenges. Some of the tensions and challenges that arose in the establishment, planning and conduct of the OPAL program and evaluation are discussed
AB - The evaluation of complex systems-wide public health interventions requires evaluation research that is underpinned by theory. This article presents and discusses the trans-disciplinary evaluation research framework developed to support the evaluation of a South Australian program called OPAL (Obesity Prevention and Lifestyle). The aim is to provide insights into the research design, methods and implementation of the evaluation and contribute to the debate on how to evaluate community-based interventions with complicated and complex aspects. In an attempt to capture the complexity of childhood obesity and the intervention, the OPAL evaluation research employs post positivist, interpretive and critical epistemologies, valuing epistemological pluralism. Each component of the multi-phase mixed methods evaluation captures different yet complementary information concerning the context, process, cost effectiveness and outcomes providing a more complete understanding of the impacts of the complex program. Evaluation research is not without challenges. Some of the tensions and challenges that arose in the establishment, planning and conduct of the OPAL program and evaluation are discussed
KW - childhood obesity prevention
KW - complex systems
KW - epistemology
KW - evaluation research
KW - methodology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84953408475&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.mendeley.com/research/opalesence-epistemological-pluralism-evaluation-systemswide-childhood-obesity-prevention-program
U2 - 10.1177/1356389015623142
DO - 10.1177/1356389015623142
M3 - Article
VL - 22
SP - 29
EP - 48
JO - Evaluation
JF - Evaluation
SN - 1356-3890
IS - 1
ER -