Postpositivism and Accounting Research : a (Personal) Primer on Critical Realism

Australasian Accounting Business and Finance Journal

Volume 4 Issue 4 Australasian Accounting Business and Finance Journal Article 2

Postpositivism and Accounting Research : A (Personal) Primer on Critical Realism

Jayne Bisman

Charles Sturt University, jbisman@csu.edu.au

Follow this and additional works at: http://ro.uow.edu.au/aabfj Copyright ©2010 Australasian Accounting Business and Finance Journal and Authors. Recommended Citation Bisman, Jayne, Postpositivism and Accounting Research : A (Personal) Primer on Critical Realism, Australasian Accounting Business and Finance Journal, 4(4), 2010, 3-25. Available at:http://ro.uow.edu.au/aabfj/vol4/iss4/2

Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: research-pubs@uow.edu.au

Postpositivism and Accounting Research : A (Personal) Primer on Critical Realism

Abstract

This paper presents an overview and primer on the postpositivist philosophy of critical realism. The examination of this research paradigm commences with the identification of the underlying motivations that prompted a personal exploration of critical realism. A brief review of ontology, epistemology and methodology and the research philosophies and methods popularly applied in accounting is then provided. The meta-theoretical basis of critical realism and the ontological and epistemological assumptions that go towards establishing the ‘truth’ and validity criteria underpinning this paradigm are detailed, and the relevance and potential applications of critical realism to accounting research are also discussed. The purpose of this discussion is to make a call to diversify the approaches to accounting research, and – specifically – to assist researchers to realise the potential for postpositivist multiple method research designs in accounting. This is aided through an illustration that functions to highlight how and why this approach was applied in...