ERIC Number: EJ1479654
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Sep
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1098-2140
EISSN: EISSN-1557-0878
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Applying the Renger System Test to Determine Whether a System Evaluation Is Fit for Evaluating a Complex Intervention: A Case Example
Ralph Renger1; Elias Samuels2; Jessica Renger3; Ellen Champagne2
American Journal of Evaluation, v46 n3 p353-364 2025
This article presents the Renger System Test (RST) as a method for assessing whether a system evaluation approach is suitable for evaluating complex interventions. The RST has three criteria: (1) the intervention includes multiple components, (2) these components operate interdependently, and (3) their interdependence produces an outcome that no single component can achieve alone. An NIH-funded case illustrates how to apply the RST to program source documentation. Findings suggest several key terms can be used to infer whether each of the RST criteria is met. The article discusses the pitfalls of using an intervention's label to select the most appropriate evaluation approach, as well as the challenges when there is a disconnect between the funder-mandated evaluation approach and a better fit-for-purpose system approach.
Descriptors: Program Evaluation, Evaluation Methods, Evaluation Criteria, Systems Approach, Intervention
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Michigan
Grant or Contract Numbers: 1UM1TR004404
Author Affiliations: 1Just Evaluation Services, Vail, AZ, USA; 2Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research (MICHR), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; 3Community Health, Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, CA, USA