Abstract

PARRA HEREDIA, Juan David. Critical Realism: An Alternative in Social Analysis. Soc. Econ. [online]. 2016, n.31, pp.215-238. ISSN 1657-6357.

The article highlights the limitations of positivism in the social sciences. Critics of positivism appeal to its ontological superficiality and the consequences on its epistemic pertinence, and claim the need of methodological alternatives in social research. Critical Realism, as a philosophical stand, and Margaret Archer's Morphogenetic Approach, as a theoretical implication, are both presented to contest the dominant research paradigm. The paper innovates in the sense that it makes an effort to link philosophical discussions with its practical implications for social research, including an explicit reference to three previous works that have used realism to inform an institutional analysis. The counterproposal is still premature, but it has an important scientific potential.

Keywords : ontology; methodology; positivism; critical realism; morphogenetic approac.

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