Table 2 Grand-theoretical traditions and their potential relevance to implementation science (adapted from Patton [51])
From: Harnessing the power of theorising in implementation science
Perspective | Disciplinary roots | Central questions relevant to implementation science |
|---|---|---|
Ethnography | Anthropology | What is the culture of a certain group of people (e.g. an organisation) involved in implementation? How does it manifest in the process of implementation? |
Critical realism | Philosophy, social sciences and evaluation | What are plausible explanations for verifiable patterns of implementation? |
Constructivism | Sociology | What are the implementation actors’ reported perceptions, explanations, beliefs, and worldviews? What consequences do these have on implementation? |
Phenomenology | Philosophy | What is the meaning, structure, and essence of the lived experience of implementation for a certain group of people? |
Symbolic interactionism | Social psychology | What common set of symbols and understandings has emerged to give meaning to people’s interactions in the process of implementation? |
Semiotics | Linguistics | How do signs (i.e. words and symbols) carry and convey meaning in particular implementation contexts? |
Narrative analysis | Social sciences, literary criticism | What do stories of implementation reveal about implementation actors and contexts? |
Complexity theory | Theoretical physics, natural sciences | What is the underlying order of any disorderly implementation phenomena? |
Critical theory | Political philosophy | How do the experiences of inequality, injustice, and subjugation shape implementation? |
Feminist inquiry | Interdisciplinary | How does the lens of gender shape and affect our understandings and actions in the process of implementation? |