Critical realist empirical research: operationalising a philosophy as a methodology in quantitative research
This paper describes and evaluates the application of an explicitly critical realist methodology to a quantitative doctoral research project on the causes of family homelessness in Australia. It focuses on how I applied the abstract philosophy of critical realism as a concrete and practical framework for empirical research. Therefore, it profiles the critical realist-informed methodological and analytical process I used to move from empirical statistical data analysis to develop a theoretical model explaining why some Australian families become homeless, and others do not. The paper demonstrates the role of critical realism in informing and defining my research approach and study design.
Critical realism offers a strong critique of positivism, yet statistical methods are usually associated with a more positivist-leaning philosophy of science. Therefore, a central objective of the presentation will be to summarise my arguments for the appropriate use of statistical methods within a critical realist paradigm and provide an example of how I did this.
First, I outline several core foundations of critical realism, in plain English. These include what critical realism has to say about the nature of the social world (ontology) and how we can know it (epistemology). I show the impact of these philosophical principles on my understanding of a complex and contingent causal complexity, conceptualisation of the relationship between structure and agency, and the increasing adoption of an interdisciplinary approach to my inherently sociological research.
Second, I outline the two data analysis stages of my approach. 1) Empirical Analysis. The initial focus was to use quantitative data to develop a description of the nature, characteristics and relationships defining family homelessness in Australia. I used a mixture of descriptive statistics and panel regression techniques on ABS Estimation of Homelessness, Specialist Homelessness Service administrative, and Journeys Home longitudinal survey data. In these analyses, I was looking for characteristics and patterns that suggest the presence of structures, mechanisms and contexts relevant to answering the core research question of the thesis: what are the causal mechanisms of contemporary ‘cultural’ homelessness for disadvantaged Australian families with children? 2) Theoretical analysis. Due to the ontological commitments of critical realism, we must explain what we observe by theorising the unobservable causal mechanisms produced by the generative powers of social structures (the social objects making up our social world). Developing explanatory theories, therefore, involves processes of abstraction and inference. First, to conceptually understand the nature of homelessness—the internal and external relations that define it—through structural analysis. Then, to explain why homelessness occurs—by asking ‘what makes homelessness possible’—by theorising through casual analysis the necessary and sufficient causal mechanisms and conditions responsible.
Recording link: https://acspri-org-au.zoom.us/rec/share/bMvRMHyt1mxBmr3v9JEMtzw40XMlR7ie_q-pDBV0BwdJ1Nf47TlmI5mkRiBW5d4n.4ITWOzq9QFTcwMgN?startTime=1669172442000
