Critical realism: what you should know and how to apply it.

Lawani, Ama

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss critical realism philosophical viewpoint and how it can be applied in qualitative research. Critical realism (CR) is a relatively new and viable philosophical paradigm proposed as an alternative to the more predominant paradigms of positivism, interpretivism and pragmatism. This paper reviews the concept, its benefits and limitation. It goes further to provide an example of how CR is used as a philosophical and methodological framework with Systems Thinking (ST) theory to applied qualitative research. Design/methodology/approach: A study of project management challenges in a Nigerian Government Organisation (NGO) is used to demonstrate a qualitative research approach which includes a coding process and data analysis that is consistent with CR ontology and epistemology. Findings: Critical Realism focuses primarily on closed systems. However, a more accurate explanation of reality is obtained in addition to the identification of contextual causal mechanisms in the context of study when a general systems theory is applied. Research limitations/implications: The knowledge about the nature of relationships obtained in the context of study may not necessarily be replicated in another context. However, this paper elucidates a CR process that is generalisable by demonstrating how a theory is applied in a different context. Originality: The paper demonstrates how systems theory is used to understand interactions in critical realism paradigm. It engages with CR approach critically and illustrates a clear example of how CR can be applied in social research.

Citation

LAWANI, A. [2020]. Critical realism: what you should know and how to apply it. Qualitative research journal [online], Early Cite. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1108/QRJ-08-2020-0101

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 25, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Dec 15, 2020
• Deposit Date: Nov 13, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 15, 2020
• Journal: Qualitative research journal
• Print ISSN: 1443-9883
• Electronic ISSN: 1741-3109
• Publisher: RMIT Publishing
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/qrj-08-2020-0101
• Keywords: Critical realism; Systems thinking; Data analysis; Case study
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/980223