Full Description
Realist Inquiry in Social Science is an invaluable guide to conducting realist research. Written by highly regarded experts in the field, the first part of the book sets out the fundamentals necessary for rigorous realist research, while the second part deals with a number of its most important applications, discussing it in the context of case studies, action research and grounded theory amongst other approaches.
Grounded in philosophical methodology, this book goes beyond understanding knowledge justification only as empirical validity, but instead emphasises the importance of theoretical criteria for all good research. The authors consider both quantitative and qualitative research methods, and approach methodology from an interdisciplinary viewpoint. Using abductive reasoning as the starting point for an insightful journey into realist inquiry, this book demonstrates that scientific realism continues to be of major relevance to the social sciences.
Contents
Chapter 1: Scientific Realism
What is Realism?
Naturalistic Realism
Global and Local Realism
Realist Methodology
The Centrality of Method
Realism in the Social Sciences
Chapter 2: Evidence
Social Science Preliminaries
Empirical Evidence and Theory
Coherentism and Naturalism
Varieties of Evidence: Pragmatic Considerations
Chapter 3: Validity
Test Validity, Operational Definition, and Logical Empiricism
Holism, Realism, and Ontological Commitment
Construct Validity and Logical Empiricism
Construct Validity, Generalization in Experiments, and Epistemology
Paradigms of Validity
Coherence Justification
Chapter 4: Grounded Theory
The Abductive Theory of Method
Problem Formulation
Phenomena Detection
Theory Construction
ATOM as Grounded Theory Method
Chapter 5: Factor Analysis
Exploratory Factor Analysis and Scientific Inference
Methodological Challenges to Exploratory Factor Analysis
Exploratory Factor Analysis and Other Factor Analytic Methods
Chapter 6: Case Study
Constitutive and Regulative Rules
What is A Case?
Generalizing From Cases
A Case Study in China
Making Generalizations
Improving Knowledge of Generalizations
