ABSTRACT
Other chapters in this book have critically appraised the philosophical basis of critical realism and have suggested some new and exciting avenues for taking forward its ontological and epistemological interventions. Although this chapter applauds this work, it also recognises that ‘philosophy is sound only if it guides the selection of methods in carrying out empirical research’ (Yeung 1997: 70, emphasis original). In effect, any critical appraisal of philosophy must also critically reconsider method. As Yeung puts it: ‘What is missing badly in the existing realist practice . . . is how such concrete research is actually conducted to examine generative mechanisms and contextual contingency’ (1997: 70, emphasis added; see also Pratt 1995).
