Critical Realism: A Critical Evaluation

Critical realism, championed by its proponents as the most promising post-positivist social science paradigm, has gained significant influence in last few decades. This paper provides a critical evaluation of realism movement hope facilitating more fruitful dialogues between and rivalling schools sociologists. Two concerns are raised about contemporary realism. First, is not only philosophical school against positivism necessarily best. Second, realists exaggerate importance to conflate philosophy with sociological theories.