HeyJaredThe Realist Lens - For Researchers Who Keep It Real
The Realist Lens is a podcast that makes realist evaluation and synthesis accessible and easy to follow. Through relaxed conversations with expert guests, students, and practitioners, we explore key realist concepts like mechanisms, context, and outcomes.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 7
- Latest publication
- Sep 28, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 6, 2026
Latest episodes
Episode 37 – Realist Research, Nutrition and Plant-Based Care with Saffron Whyton (opens the original)
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What happens when nutrition research moves beyond asking whether an intervention works and starts examining why it works, for whom and under which conditions? Alejandro is joined by Saffron Whyton, a PhD researcher at the University of Surrey whose work sits at the intersection of nutrition and psychology, with a particular focus on plant-based diets, healthy ageing and care homes. Drawing on her realist synthesis, Saffron explores a challenge familiar across nutrition and public health research
Episode 36 –Bringing Behavioural Science and Realist Research Together with Justin Aunger (opens the original)
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What happens when we bring behavioural science and realist research into the same conversation? And could the two approaches help address some of each other’s limitations? Alejandro is joined by Dr Justin Aunger, Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham, whose work spans behavioural science, patient safety, health services research, realist synthesis and realist evaluation. Drawing on his experience across both traditions, Justin explores a challenge familiar to many realist researchers:
Episode 35 – The Elephant in the Room: Using (or Not Using) AI in Realist Research with Andrew Booth (opens the original)
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What does it mean to use artificial intelligence well in realist research? And where should we draw the red lines? In this timely and balanced conversation, Alejandro is joined by Professor Andrew Booth, Professor in Evidence Synthesis at the University of Sheffield, whose work spans systematic reviews, qualitative evidence synthesis, information retrieval, and realist synthesis. Andrew approaches AI not as a solution to every methodological challenge, nor as something researchers should simply
Episode 34 – Realist Review of Communication Partner Training after Stroke with Yvonne Fitzmaurice (opens the original)
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What does it really take to conduct a realist review when you are new to realist research, and there is no simple methodological roadmap to follow? How can realist approaches help us understand why communication partner training works in some contexts but is difficult to sustain or embed in others? In this open and highly practical conversation, Alejandro is joined by Yvonne Fitzmaurice, an experienced speech and language therapist, educator and PhD researcher, currently working in clinical spee
Episode 33 – Realist Evaluation in Commissioned Settings with Brad Astbury (opens the original)
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What does it mean to conduct realist evaluation well when timelines are tight, budgets are limited, data access is imperfect, and commissioners want findings that areclear, useful, and actionable? How can evaluators remain faithful to realist principles without becoming trapped in theoretical complexity, or reducing context, mechanism, and outcome configurations to formulaic boxes? In this refreshingly practical conversation, Alejandro is joined by Associate Professor Brad Astbury, Associate Pro
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