ABSTRACT
This short introductory chapter introduces the concepts of realism and complexity. It then reviews the methodological landscape and context of social research, over the last 20 years. This has been a period of change in the nature of data and the development of methods. It then sets out the aims of the book to synthesise philosophical and methodological work published by the author and others and to develop complex realism as a testable theoretical programme for social science methodology. There follows a summary of each of the chapters.
