Judgemental rationality is infrequently referenced within discussions of Realist Evaluations. Judgemental rationality refers to researchers’ capacity to assess which, potential, meanings provide the most credible explanations. In evaluation work, rationale for analysis is provided, though rarely do we see how an evaluator made judgements between competing theories, and which theories were discarded and why. We provide a worked example of the application of judgemental rationality. The Engager intervention offered support to prison leavers with common mental health problems. The data for 24, purposively sampled, participants from the intervention arm of the trial were integrated. Bhaskar’s DREIC, a five-step analytical procedure, was used to transfactually theorise and interrogate the inferences made within, and across, cases. The findings demonstrated that the intervention was more effective when practitioners developed an in-depth understanding of the participant. We recommend that intervention developers look for ways to enhance therapeutic competencies and judgemental rationality in practitioner teams.

在现实主义评估的讨论中很少提及判断理性。判断理性是指研究人员评估哪些潜在意义提供最可信解释的能力。在评估工作中，提供了分析的基本原理，尽管我们很少看到评估者如何在相互竞争的理论之间做出判断，哪些理论被丢弃以及为什么被丢弃。我们提供了一个应用判断理性的例子。Engager 干预为有常见心理健康问题的监狱离开者提供支持。对来自试验干预组的 24 名有意抽样的参与者的数据进行了整合。Bhaskar 的 DREIC 是一个五步分析程序，用于对案例内部和案例之间的推论进行超事实的理论化和质疑。研究结果表明，当从业者深入了解参与者时，干预会更有效。我们建议干预开发人员寻找方法来提高从业者团队的治疗能力和判断力。