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Critical Realism (Bhaskar)

批判实在论（Bhaskar）

Overview

概述

Critical realism posits a stratified ontology: the real (structures and mechanisms that exist whether or not they are activated), the actual (events that occur when mechanisms are activated), and the empirical (events that are observed or experienced). Research must move beyond empirical regularities to identify the generative mechanisms that produce observed phenomena.
批判实在论主张分层本体论：实在域（无论是否被激活都存在的结构与机制）、实际域（机制被激活时发生的事件）、经验域（被观测或体验到的事件）。研究必须超越经验规律，识别产生观测现象的生成性机制。

When to Use

适用场景

  • Moving beyond correlational findings to causal explanation
  • Designing mixed-methods research that integrates structure and agency
  • Analyzing why the same mechanism produces different outcomes in different contexts
  • Critiquing positivist or constructivist approaches as ontologically insufficient
  • 从关联研究结果转向因果解释
  • 设计整合结构与能动者的混合方法研究
  • 分析同一机制在不同情境下产生不同结果的原因
  • 批判实证主义或建构主义方法在本体论层面的不足

When NOT to Use

不适用场景

  • When pure prediction without causal understanding is sufficient
  • When the research question is about subjective meaning-making only (use interpretivism)
  • When the audience requires strict hypothesis-deductive methodology
  • 仅需纯预测而无需因果理解时
  • 研究问题仅关乎主观意义建构时（建议使用解释主义）
  • 受众要求严格的假设-演绎方法论时

Assumptions

假设

IRON LAW: Observable events (empirical) are a SUBSET of what happens
(actual), which is a SUBSET of what exists (real) — research must go
beyond correlations to identify underlying generative mechanisms.
Key assumptions:
  1. Reality exists independently of our knowledge of it (ontological realism)
  2. Our knowledge of reality is always fallible and theory-laden (epistemological relativism)
  3. Some explanations are better than others (judgmental rationality)
  4. Causation is about mechanisms, not constant conjunctions (Humean regularity is insufficient)
IRON LAW: Observable events (empirical) are a SUBSET of what happens
(actual), which is a SUBSET of what exists (real) — research must go
beyond correlations to identify underlying generative mechanisms.
核心假设：
  1. 现实独立于我们对它的认知而存在（本体论实在论）
  2. 我们对现实的认知始终具有可错性且受理论影响（认识论相对主义）
  3. 部分解释优于其他解释（判断理性）
  4. 因果关系关乎机制，而非恒常联结（休谟式规律并不充分）

Methodology

研究方法

Step 1: Describe the Phenomenon (Empirical Domain)

步骤1：描述现象（经验域）

Document observable patterns, regularities, and experiences — what do we see happening?
记录可观测的模式、规律与体验——我们观测到了什么？

Step 2: Identify Events and Conditions (Actual Domain)

步骤2：识别事件与条件（实际域）

Map the events that occurred whether or not they were observed, including contextual conditions, co-occurring events, and counterfactual absences.
绘制已发生的事件（无论是否被观测到），包括情境条件、同时发生的事件以及反事实缺失的情况。

Step 3: Retroduction to Mechanisms (Real Domain)

步骤3：回溯推理至机制（实在域）

Use retroductive reasoning: "What must be true for this phenomenon to be possible?" Propose candidate generative mechanisms — structures, powers, and tendencies that could produce the observed events.
运用回溯推理：‘要使这一现象成为可能，必须存在什么？’提出候选生成性机制——能够产生观测事件的结构、能力与趋势。

Step 4: Assess Mechanism Activation and Context

步骤4：评估机制激活与情境

Analyze how context enables or constrains mechanism activation. Explain why the same mechanism produces different outcomes in different settings (context + mechanism = outcome).
分析情境如何促成或限制机制的激活。解释同一机制在不同场景下产生不同结果的原因（情境 + 机制 = 结果）。

Output Format

输出格式

markdown
undefined
markdown
undefined

Critical Realist Analysis: [Context]

Critical Realist Analysis: [Context]

Empirical Domain (Experienced)

Empirical Domain (Experienced)

  • Observed patterns: [what we see in the data]
  • Measurement instruments: [how we accessed these observations]
  • Known limitations: [what we cannot observe directly]
  • Observed patterns: [what we see in the data]
  • Measurement instruments: [how we accessed these observations]
  • Known limitations: [what we cannot observe directly]

Actual Domain (Events)

Actual Domain (Events)

  • Events occurred: [including unobserved events inferred from evidence]
  • Contextual conditions: [enabling/constraining factors]
  • Counterfactuals: [what did NOT happen and why it matters]
  • Events occurred: [including unobserved events inferred from evidence]
  • Contextual conditions: [enabling/constraining factors]
  • Counterfactuals: [what did NOT happen and why it matters]

Real Domain (Mechanisms)

Real Domain (Mechanisms)

MechanismStructure/PowerTendencyEvidence
[name][underlying structure][what it tends to produce][how we infer it]
MechanismStructure/PowerTendencyEvidence
[name][underlying structure][what it tends to produce][how we infer it]

Context-Mechanism-Outcome Configuration

Context-Mechanism-Outcome Configuration

  • Context: [specific conditions]
  • Mechanism activated: [which mechanism and why]
  • Outcome: [what was produced]
  • Context: [specific conditions]
  • Mechanism activated: [which mechanism and why]
  • Outcome: [what was produced]

Implications

Implications

  1. [What this tells us about underlying reality]
  2. [Practical interventions targeting mechanisms, not symptoms]
undefined
  1. [What this tells us about underlying reality]
  2. [Practical interventions targeting mechanisms, not symptoms]
undefined

Gotchas

注意事项

  • Do NOT conflate mechanisms with variables — mechanisms are real structures with causal powers, not statistical predictors
  • Retroduction is not induction or deduction — it asks "what must exist" not "what do we observe" or "what follows logically"
  • The empirical domain is the smallest layer, yet most research stops here
  • Critical realism is a philosophy of science, not a method — it is compatible with qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods
  • Structure and agency are analytically distinct but temporally intertwined (morphogenetic cycle)
  • Avoid the epistemic fallacy: reducing what exists to what we can know
  • 切勿将机制与变量混为一谈——机制是具有因果能力的真实结构，而非统计预测因子
  • 回溯推理既非归纳也非演绎——它追问‘必须存在什么’，而非‘我们观测到了什么’或‘逻辑上会得出什么结论’
  • 经验域是最小的层级，但大多数研究止步于此
  • 批判实在论是科学哲学，而非具体方法——它兼容定性、定量与混合方法
  • 结构与能动者在分析层面相互独立，但在时间维度相互交织（形态发生周期）
  • 避免认知谬误：将存在的事物简化为我们能认知的事物

References

参考文献

  • Bhaskar, R. (1975/2008). A Realist Theory of Science. Routledge.
  • Sayer, A. (2000). Realism and Social Science. Sage.
  • Archer, M. S. (1995). Realist Social Theory: The Morphogenetic Approach. Cambridge University Press.
  • Bhaskar, R. (1975/2008). A Realist Theory of Science. Routledge.
  • Sayer, A. (2000). Realism and Social Science. Sage.
  • Archer, M. S. (1995). Realist Social Theory: The Morphogenetic Approach. Cambridge University Press.