A story/dialogue method for health promotion knowledge development and evaluation

Arguments have been made in favour of a constructivist or postpositivist approach to health promotion knowledge development and program evaluation, but little has been articulated about what such an approach would look like. This article describes a 'story/dialogue method' that was created with and for practitioners in response to their concerns that much of their practice did not lend itself to a positivist, or conventional, methodology. Derived from constructivist, feminist and critical pedagogical theory, and with roots in qualitative methods, the method structures group dialogue around case stories addressing particular generative practice themes. While intended for practitioner training, organizational development and evaluation, the method to date has been used primarily for training purposes. This article describes the method, provides an example of its application, and discusses its strengths, weaknesses and relevance to health promotion.