Table of Contents
Definition of Critical Realism
(noun) A theory contending things are real if they produce effects.
Example of Critical Realism
- From the sociological perspective, race is a social construct, but the effect of race on an individual is real because of the impact of racism.
Critical Realism Pronunciation
Syllabification: crit·i·cal re·al·ism
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /krIt-i-kuhl rEE-uh-liz-uhm/
- British English – /krIt-i-kuhl rIUH-li-zuhm/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈkrɪtɪkəl ˈriəlɪzm/
- British English – /ˈkrɪtɪkəl ˈrɪəlɪzm/
Usage Notes
- Plural: critical realisms
- Abbreviation: CR
- Critical realism was developed by Roy Bhaskar (1944–2014) in A Realist Theory of Science (1975).
- A (noun) critical realist studies the world through a (adjective) critical realistic lens.
Additional Information
- Word origin of “critical” and “realism” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Archer, Margaret, Roy Bhaskar, Andrew Collier, Tony Lawson, and Alan Norrie, eds. 1998. Critical Realism: Essential Readings. London: Routledge.
- Frauley, Jon, and Frank Pearce, eds. 2007. Critical Realism and the Social Sciences: Heterodox Elaborations. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
- Hartwig, Mervyn, ed. 2007. Dictionary of Critical Realism. London: Routledge.
Related Terms
Works Consulted
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).
Cite the Definition of Critical Realism
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “critical realism.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 19, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/critical-realism/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
critical realism. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/critical-realism/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “critical realism.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 19, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/critical-realism/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“critical realism.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/critical-realism/>.