ABSTRACT

This article describes and evaluates the application of an explicitly critical realist methodology to a quantitative doctoral research project on the causes of family homelessness in Australia. It is offered as an example of a critical realist approach to empirical research, in the hope that it will provide ideas and motivation to other scholars seeking a critical realist foundation to their research practice. The paper demonstrates the role of critical realism in informing and defining the analytical and theoretical approach I took. It shows how the philosophy influenced the foundations and practical development of my work. It describes the process of moving from empirical data to theoretical models by stepping through and describing each stage. Finally, I offer an assessment of how critical realism changed, enabled, improved, and liberated my project; that is, what advantage critical realism offered to explaining a complex social phenomenon and crisis in contemporary Australia.

摘要

本文描述并评估了明确批判现实主义方法在澳大利亚家庭无家可归原因的定量博士研究项目中的应用。它被用作实证研究的批判现实主义方法的一个例子，希望它能为其他寻求批判现实主义基础的学者提供想法和动力。这篇论文展示了批判现实主义在告知和定义我采用的分析和理论方法方面的作用。它展示了哲学如何影响我工作的基础和实践发展。它通过逐步完成和描述每个阶段，描述了从经验数据到理论模型的过程。最后，我对批判现实主义如何改变、启用、改进、并解放了我的项目；也就是说，批判现实主义为解释当代澳大利亚的复杂社会现象和危机提供了什么优势。