ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the implementation of critical realist theory when conducting ethnographic research. Critical realist theory and domain theory, in particular, have been useful for providing ideas and concepts on how to manage and make sense of complex ethnographic data. The chapter presents how critical realist thinking can be implemented in ethnographic research, partly as a way to position ethnographic research in relation to other research methodologies. It also discusses how implementation of critical realist thinking enables the development of analytical frames for analyzing social life in general and social encounters in particular. The chapter introduces the context of this discussion by presenting studies where the critical realist– based methodology has been and is being applied and developed. The use of critical realist theory, as well as the use of well-thought-out abstractions of the social universe, distinguishes systematic ethnography from laypersons' observations.
