Working with Critical Realism: Stories of Methodological Encounters

Description

This international and interdisciplinary collection gathers stories from researchers and research students about their methodological encounters with critical realism. Whether the contributors are experienced or novice researchers, they are predominantly new to critical realism. For various reasons, as the contributors' detail, they have all been drawn to critical realism. It is well known that critical realism can be bewildering and even overwhelming to newcomers, especially to those unfamiliar with language of, and without a grounding in, philosophy. While there are now numerous and important introductory and applied critical realist texts that make critical realism more accessible to a broader audience, stories from newcomers have been absent - especially as part of a single collection. The significance and uniqueness of this collection lies in its documentation of first-hand reflective insights on the practical use and implementation of critical realism. The contributors feature critical realist inspired research journeys in Australia, England, Scotland, Belgium, Sweden, and Spain. The hope of this book is that the stories and accounts presented in it will inspire - or at least sufficiently arouse the curiosity of others to explore critical realist possibilities, which we believe offer enormous value to serious researchers across and within all disciplines and subjects who are interested in rigorous intellectual work with a socially progressive purpose. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page CONTENTS Acknowledgements Foreword Notes on Contributors 1. Introduction: Journeying through Critical Realism 2. A Detective, Physicist, and Historian Walk into a Bar: Abduction, Retroduction, and Retrodiction in Critical Realist Evaluations 3. Bridging the Gap Between Philosophy and Empirical Research: A Critical Realist Methodology Using Quantitative Methods 4. Parent Engagement in Student Learning: Using Critical Realism to Uncover the Generative Mechanisms Needed for Teachers to Embrace Parent Engagement in Their Teaching Practice 5. On the Anti-Imperialist Possibilities of Critical Realism 6. Cobbling Together Methods for a Coherent Critical Realist Methodology: Searching for Mechanisms 7. A Critical Realist Perspective on the ‘Quality and Reform Dance’ in the Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) Sector: The Road Less Travelled 8. The Utility of Critical Realism in Indigenous Research 9. The Spatiality of School Choice: A Critical Realist Quantitative Geography of Education? 10. Real Men, Real Violence: Critical Realism and the Search for the Masculine Subject 11. The Critical Realist Toolkit 12. Journeys to Critical Realism: A Conversation about Spirituality, Love, and Human Emancipation 13. A Kind of Conclusion: Against Full-Stops and Bookends? Index