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Realism

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The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management

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Abstract

Critical realism is a philosophy of science, which claims that the social world exists independently of researchers and their investigations of it. Realism is distinct from both positivism and postmodernism. It rejects positivist beliefs that knowledge about the social world must be objectively identified and postmodernist beliefs that the world is entirely socially constructed. Realism recognizes that some causal mechanisms are unobservable and that causal relationships are affected by the openness of social systems and the role of human actors in the reproduction of social phenomena.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, Durham, NC, 27708, USA

    John Joseph

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  1. John Joseph
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Correspondence to John Joseph .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Stanford University , Stanford, California, USA

    Mie Augier

  2. Tusher Ctr Intellectual Capital, University of California Tusher Ctr Intellectual Capital, Berkeley, California, USA

    David J. Teece

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© 2016 The Author(s)

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Joseph, J. (2016). Realism. In: Augier, M., Teece, D. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-94848-2_592-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-94848-2_592-1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-349-94848-2

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