ABSTRACT This article illustrates the process of applied critical realist research using a case study of political decision-making in transport. Critical realism is often used to analyse socio-political change but rarely to explain specific political decisions, and never in transport studies. There have been some attempts to illustrate the process of applied critical realism but not in a political context. The case study analysed an apparent inconsistency in the attitude of UK governments towards road building in the 1990s and post-2012. It structured the findings diagrammatically, illustrating the relationships between social structures, causal mechanisms and actors. This article questions the conventional distinction between ‘more important' and ‘less important’ causes. It shows how normative conclusions may be derived from empirical findings where no agreement exists on the objective basis for normative judgements. It demonstrates how critical realist methods can provide deeper explanations for policy change than existing approaches used in transport studies.

中文翻译：

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通过示例学习批判现实主义者的研究：运输中的政治决策

摘要本文通过对交通运输中政治决策的案例研究，说明了应用批判现实主义者研究的过程。批判现实主义通常用于分析社会政治变化，但很少用于解释具体的政治决策，在运输研究中则从未使用过。已经进行了一些尝试来说明应用批判现实主义的过程，但是没有在政治背景下进行说明。案例研究分析了1990年代和2012年后英国政府对道路建设的态度明显不一致。它以图表形式构造了调查结果，说明了社会结构，因果机制与参与者之间的关系。本文质疑“更重要”和“次要重要性”原因之间的传统区别。它显示了如何从经验发现中得出规范性结论，而在规范性判断的客观基础上尚无共识。它表明，与运输研究中使用的现有方法相比，批判的现实主义方法如何能够为政策变更提供更深入的解释。