Developing a recipe for realist interviewing using critical realist ingredients

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Abstract

This chapter offers a critical realist-informed perspective on the design of interviews in applied social science research including realist evaluation. It starts by profiling the key differences between the philosophies of critical realism and scientific realism (the basis of Pawson and Tilley's realist evaluation). After providing a rationale for a critical realist approach to social science research and interview method development, the chapter introduces five critical realist ‘ingredients’ to inspire the development of realist interviewing. It provides practical guidance on developing interview questions that will generate the rich ontological ‘deep’ data that will enable us to answer our realist-inspired research and evaluation questions.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationRealist evaluation
Subtitle of host publicationprinciples and practice
EditorsAna Manzano, Emma Williams
Place of PublicationLondon ; New York
PublisherRoutledge, Taylor and Francis Group
Chapter12
Pages179-194
Number of pages16
ISBN (Electronic)9781003457077
ISBN (Print)9781032599786, 9781032599779
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2025

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