Effecting Change in Social Life: Critical Realism, Action Research and Social Work

There is a growing interest in critical realism and its application to social work. This presentation makes a case for adopting this philosophical position in qualitative social work research. More specifically, it suggests... [ view full abstract ]

There is a growing interest in critical realism and its application to social work. This presentation makes a case for adopting this philosophical position in qualitative social work research. More specifically, it suggests that there is a concordance between critical realist premises and action research. In this context, the retroductive approach in critical realism is examined and applied to the action research process of cyclical inquiry. This combination of philosophy and method, it is argued, promotes anti-oppressive social work research. Overall, the presentation underscores the importance of 'depth' in qualitative inquiry by conceiving the social world as stratified in terms of a number of interlacing domains, all with underpinning mechanisms that can potentially help or hinder social change.