Courses

Realist Interviewing in Practice

Next Course Starts 10 November 2026

About the course

Realist interviewing is a distinctive approach to data collection in which interviews are used not simply to gather accounts, but to develop, test, and refine explanatory theory. The interviewee is treated as a theory-holder: someone whose knowledge of what works, for whom, and why is epistemically valuable and analytically generative.

This four-week course is designed for researchers who are using, or planning to use, interviews within a realist evaluation or synthesis. The emphasis is on practice: designing questions that probe mechanisms and context, conducting interviews that generate theory-relevant data, and analysing that data to build and refine CMO configurations. Drawing on published frameworks and methods developed in my own realist work, the course supports participants to move from the principles of realist interviewing to confident, defensible practice.

Realist Synthesis in Practice

Next Course Starts 2027

About the course

This is a practical, applied course designed to support participants to actively develop and conduct a realist review. The emphasis throughout is on doing realist synthesis using your own review question and material, rather than learning the method in the abstract. Alongside core methodological principles, I will share practical hints, tips, and worked approaches drawn from experience, and support participants to identify a way of progressing through their review that makes sense for their topic, context, and constraints, rather than working to a single prescribed template. There will be plenty of time for discussion, and participants will be strongly encouraged to form their own community of practice tp support continued development outside of training.

Charting Thinking in Realist Research

Pausing, sense-making and steering projects mid-way

About the course

Realist research is rarely linear. Many projects stall not at the beginning or the end, but in the middle, when data are accumulating, theories feel unstable, and decisions about direction become increasingly difficult.

This 4-week course is designed to support researchers working mid-project to externalise, stabilise, and refine their thinking. Drawing on structured tables developed and used in my own doctoral and applied realist work, the course focuses on practical ways of charting how explanations evolve over time, using pauses productively, and making defensible decisions about where a project goes next.