Critical realism and attribution theory in qualitative research
Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management
ISSN: 1746-5648
Article publication date: 10 November 2020
Issue publication date: 23 February 2021
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to develop an integrative model that explains how incorporating the two epistemological positions of critical realism and attribution theory can help qualitative organisational researchers better understand the reality of social actors through different lenses. In addition, the paper aims to demonstrate the application of the model through a study of organisational justice perceptions of elite Muslim professionals undergoing performance appraisal in the UK banking sector.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach adopted used semi-structured in-depth interviews with Muslim professionals in elite positions in UK Western and Islamic banks. Access to participants was secured through a process of purposive and snowball sampling, a tool often used to recruit hard-to-reach populations. The data were analysed through the integrative model developed in this paper.
Findings
The integration of critical realism and attribution theory provided different dimensionalities of social reality. Attribution theory enabled a systematic identification of social phenomena and their causal mechanisms, defined the characteristics of those mechanisms and highlighted who/what is responsible for and affected by them. Critical realism distinguished between causal mechanisms and the generative forces that help those mechanisms to be actualised and have effect.
Originality/value
The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, to the best of my knowledge, it is the first paper to build a novel integrative model of these two epistemologies. Second, it presents a detailed application of the model in a contemporary study of the perceptions of justice of Muslims in the UK banking sector.
Keywords
Citation
Al-Sharif, R. (2021), "Critical realism and attribution theory in qualitative research", Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 127-144. https://doi.org/10.1108/QROM-04-2020-1919
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited