Introduction: The context of realist data collection

The central topic of Realist Evaluation: Principles and Practice is how realist practitioners respond to the infinite contexts of fieldwork. The book examines how realist evaluators are constructing and testing causation claims in a variety of fieldwork macro-meso-micro contexts, using diverse data collection approaches and instruments. Although there are areas where all contributors agree, it is not a book about consensus and we, as editors, have not aimed for representativeness; disparate views and practices are valued. Scholars and practitioners in the field continue to grapple – often productively – with the absence of specific guidance for stages of realist work such as data collection and analysis. The authors in this book, as they reflect on their fieldwork experiences, engage with contemporary discussions in social research methodologies, including participatory approaches, digital data collection, interviewing through interpreters and confirmation bias in qualitative research.