A study of philosophy of social science in critical realism and its role in educational research

The purpose of this research was the study of the philosophy of social science from the critical realism’s point of view and its role in the educational research. The main problem of this research was that considering the attitudinal difference of this viewpoint which is in the middle of the two spectrums of realism and anti-realism and special attention to the philosophy of social science, which attitudinal and functional changes will occur in the educational research? Overall, it was a qualitative research which started with qualitative content analysis of the authentic texts and then with inferring implications, the hints of this viewpoint for the research were extracted. Findings showed that the critical realism considers the distinction between the natural world and the social world justifiable and due to this, the social condition of actions and their structural background is of high importance in educational research. As a result, the interpretation of meaning distinct from the structure, unlike those who believe in hermeneutics, is unacceptable. Also in terms of epistemology, critical realism, on the one hand with reliance on the assumptions underlying positivism and on the other hand, with explanation of the features associated with the network of educational and social studies, considers mathematics as a powerful tool to identify the educational and social phenomena. And at the same time, it has a radical orientation toward building an all-round sensory experience and challenges the whole reliance on induction.