Chapter 6: Working With Program Theory Assumptions in a School Related Gender-Based Violence (SRGBV) Prevention Intervention

Program theories should furnish sufficient elaboration on how a program is expected to bring about desired outcomes. But this is not always the case. Many program theories attempt to spell out results chains or pathways from outputs, intermediate outcomes and long-term outcomes, but fall short of articulating underlying assumptions.

In this paper, the authors argue that assumptions are a very essential part of an elaborate program theory. Using a typology of program assumptions, the authors illustrate how the articulation of normative, diagnostic, prescriptive, cause, and external assumptions a priori improved a program’s theory of change.