The critical rationalist approach and its back-and-forth movement from theory to the field is operationalised in an analytical framework with a methodological design. Research methods and instruments are elaborated and the main challenges of the methods combination are presented. The first task is to help identify patterns through a literature review, 34 case studies of proximity radios in Uganda and a systematic review of 25-year of sustainability policies with a stakeholder. The second task is to derive typifications, with a meta-analysis of 289 evaluations. The third is to assess their validity, through focus groups with 20 media-makers and 10 expert interviews.