How to Think Like a Realist

Ray Pawson, Emeritus Professor of Social Research Methodology, University of Leeds, UK

• Contents:Preface xiiiPART I HOW TO THINK ABOUT CAUSALITYIntroduction to Part I 2Episode 1. The oldest maxim: correlation does not equal causation 6Episode 2. Harré’s distinction between successionist andgenerative causation 10Episode 3. Stinchcombe’s challenge to students (and the rest of us) 14Episode 4. Newer maxims: contingency clouds causation;mechanisms are not variables 17Episode 5. Generative thinking in pharmaceutical inquiry: thedrug development pipeline 23Episode 6. Provisos: the transience of causal relationships andthe influence of context 31Episode 7. Mechanisms, contexts, and demi-regularities in social science 36Episode 8. Causation and change: Coleman’s boat and the Caucus race 42Episode 9. Causation in complex systems: boundary conditionsand stopping rules 50Episode 10. Generative thinking in sociology I: Goldthorpe onsocial mobility 59Episode 11. Generative thinking in sociology II: Boudon oneducational inequalityEpisode 12. Generative thinking in programme evaluation:Pawson in prison 72Episode 13. Generative thinking in comparative historicalresearch: wither protest movements? 77Episode 14. Generative thinking in qualitative longitudinalinquiry: following young fathers 82Episode 15. Generative thinking in legislative analysis: Megan’s Law 87Episode 16. Interlude 92PART II HOW TO THINK ABOUT OBJECTIVITYIntroduction to Part II 96Episode 17. The empiricist myth of direct, sensory observation 100Episode 18. The constructivist myth of omnipresent, omnipotent opinion 105Episode 19. The empiricist myth of balanced, impartial observation 111Episode 20. The constructivist myth of partisan science 119Episode 21. Objectivity reclaimed: introducing post-empiricist science 123Episode 22. Theory-informed evidence: excavating data in socialscience 133Episode 23. Theory adjudication in social science 140Episode 24. Building evidence networks in social science 146Episode 25. Organised scepticism or mutual incomprehension? 152Episode 26. Postscript: post-empiricism versus post-truth 156PART III HOW TO THINK ABOUT GENERALITYIntroduction to Part III 165Episode 27. Two modes of generality: simple and extensional 169Episode 28. Generality in the spoken word: indexicality versusabstraction 175Episode 29. Generality in behavioural science: universal subjectsor WEIRD samples 182Episode 30. Generality as typicality: the simplifications of sampling 189Episode 31. Generality in medical science: how representativeare clinical trials? 198Episode 32. Case studies and generality: transcending the single case? 207Episode 33. Incremental steps to generality: within-case comparisons 215Episode 34. Middle-range theory and the confederation of explanation 221Episode 35. Populating, testing, and scoping middle-range theory 230Episode 36. Research synthesis as generalisation 235Episode 37. Comparison, complexity, and the specification of ignorance 243Afterword 251References 253

‘A masterful work. How to Think Like a Realist: A Methodology for Social Science consists of three parts, on the important but disputed concepts of causality, objectivity, and generality. Each part includes brief “episodes” filled with examples, insight, scholarship, and wit. Accessible enough for undergraduates but rich enough for seasoned scholars, this book deserves widespread attention. Even if you disagree in places, you will be engaged, enlightened, and entertained.’