Principles in practice: reflections on a 'postpositivist' approach to evaluation research

User participation is currently seen as an ethically appropriate way to pro ceed when researching disadvantaged groups and it is encouraged by funding agencies. However, the literature rarely discusses the methodological and p ractical implications for researchers attempting to incorporate user partic ipation into evaluation studies which are informed from an epistemologicall y opposed (positivist) research paradigm. The paper explores this issue by drawing on the evaluation of a community-based smoking intervention to desc ribe and reflect upon the recruitment, training and employment of local res idents as survey interviewers, While the evaluation methodology adopts a qu asiexperimental approach, the appointment of local residents as survey inte rviewers reflects an alternative (interpretive) research tradition. The com bined strategy constitutes a postpositivist methodology in that it combines a data collection strategy more akin to interpretive social science while retaining a positivistic epistemological framework. The paper describes som e logistics of this approach and problems encountered during the course of survey. While many of the problems described may be routinely associated (a lthough seldom aired) with survey work, particularly in disadvantaged areas , the paper suggests they are also a function of the post-positivist resear ch strategy which we adopted. The failure to involve interviewers in the co nception and development of the evaluation meant that they lacked identific ation with our endeavour and this had practical implications for the survey interviewing. Although the survey was successfully executed and the employ ment of local residents was a valuable and worthwhile experience, the autho rs recognize that this narrow conception of user involvement meant that man y of the potential benefits (both to the research and the participants) ass ociated with participatory approaches were forfeited.